Food. How I love it.

There is something special about food. It can usually be depended upon (with some exceptions), and you can make it what you want it: spicy, garlicky, sweet, salty, savory, cheesy, lots of veggies, lots of meat... whatever. And the more I cook, the more I find that I really enjoy cooking! I'm currently doing the Paleo diet, which means no processed food, no grains (wheat, rice, corn, etc), only occasional potato, and no sugar. But here's what I can eat: MEAT. Vegetables. Real eggs. Cheese (some people don't do the dairy because they're lactose intolerant. I am not. So I do the dairy.) and full-fat Greek yogurt (I had no idea it was so creamy and delicious!). Fruit. There's a lot of coconut usage in this diet: coconut "flour," coconut milk, etc. I can tell you now, I've never gone this long without grains and especially without fast food. But I'm so satisfied with the food I'm eating, I'm okay with not having Taco Bell! And I'm sure my body thanks me for that. Allow me to show you some recent meals: Burgundy pepper lamb tips on a bed of herb salad, served with a generous portion of guacamole.

Or a favorite breakfast, pepper jack cheese with avocado omelette, topped with a healthy sprinkling of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika, served with the rest of the avocado, sour cream, habanero salsa, and bacon. So. GOOD.

I even made a slow-cooked beef heart, served over a bed of creamed kale:

For when I just wanted veggies, I've had mushrooms and onion sauteed in butter and garlic, or this delicious broccoli salad:

I've never had so much fun on a "diet!!" I have tonight off (one night between several working nights, so I keep my night schedule), and I'm going grocery shopping. I'm getting the ingredients for a Thai-style spicy chicken soup that has coconut milk, red curry, and many other yummy treats. I've made it once already, and fell in love. It's good to be me right now.

It's September! Oh, the end of summer..

Ah, September! Bittersweet month, it is. The end of summer... the saddest thing. I adore summer, and I look forward to it every year. It's my favorite time of year. I lose weight, I get tanned, I go out on adventures. But, God has given me the gift of football to ease the pain of summer ending. And International Talk Like A Pirate Day. And my birthday. So it's not all bad. This year I went camping on the Oregon coast. I started just north of Seaside, and made my way down to Brookings. I find it enjoyable to bring my small "hiker's" tent and find a new camping spot each night. It's a special adventure at each spot. Here's a pic of me in Newport, enjoying my first cup of coffee for the day:

I brought a hammock this year, a decision that proved to be invaluable. But back to September. I'm putting last minute touches on the house... or that's the plan... I have to scrape the window frames and repaint. Ugh. This is not a fun task, I've found. I already pressure washed the house - a task I don't intend on doing again. How often is THAT supposed to be done?? It was dirty and disgusting! Oh! Speaking of dirty! I ran in the Dirty Dash this summer! What a hoot! Wanna see how dirty my friends and I got? Yes. Yes, you do:

July was definitely the best month of the whole summer... with too many amazing memories to blog. It may warrant another post later. Goodbye summer. I'll see you in about nine months...

The Dark Side

Being in nursing school has brought out my dark side. I even dyed my hair the darkest brown (in temporary dyes - I hate roots) that I could find... without actually going black. And it really feels like a good fit. I normally enjoy being blonde or red, but at this time in my life I need to be DARK.

I have started treating nursing school like the military. What ever crazy thing they have us do, I just think to myself, "It's what I have to do," and that makes it okay. For example: I usually work while I'm in school. With this crazy schedule however, I try not to schedule anything until three weeks of school has passed. This time, sure enough, I found out I was going to have to do a two-day pediatrics rotation, but not during my normal clinical rotation schedule. They wanted me to do it on my days off. Then, as a reward, they would give me two clinical days off (together) on a random week. I didn't get to choose the week or anything. It's just when it fits their schedule. Oh, and the pediatrics rotation was in the evening. Nice. It's a good thing I didn't make any plans with work and stuff.

On a good note, I think I see a small light at the end of this. I feel like I almost can't believe I'm still in the program and others aren't. I have also had some weird doubts. Why am I here - I'm not that smart... Is this the thing I want to do with my life? Am I in the right place? Of course, it's all from stress. I've talked to my friends and most of them have had or are having the same thoughts. Once in a while though, I feel the excitement. I have to get through this term, and then it's just my practicum! Wow!

I've been knitting. There are a group of us in nursing school who knit and we get together. We knit. It's... nice. It's like we don't have to think for a minute. Of course, we all talk about nursing, but it feels different. I'm knitting fingerless gloves right now - to match the hat and scarf. I looked at my ravelry account and noticed I have almost ALL hats and scarves. Crap. I need to do something new I guess. What should I knit next??

Last Day For a While!

I did it! I survived the work day and now I am OFF!!! I have a couple of doctor's appointments and then I'm off to go camping for at least four days. OOOooohhh, I'm practically giddy!!

On a totally different subject, one of my cats just made an incredible stench in the nearby litter box. I really don't think he covered it well in there.

I had a student CNA with me today at work. That's really a gamble; sometimes you get a good one, sometimes... not so much. I had a student a while back who was TERRIBLE at communicating. She ended up in tears a couple of times. I'm really not that mean! She just got frustrated very quickly. And she had absolutely zero critical thinking skills. She got hyped about a patient who had a trickle of blood that leaked from her IV site... but didn't get animated at all when another patient ripped their IV out and blood was gushing out. Weird.

Today was a good day. No poop stories though. Hm. Maybe that's just one reason why it was a good day...

Where's My Patient??

For the past week or so, I've had a patient who... wanders. This fella has a bit of dementia and really doesn't remember what you tell him a few minutes before. He knows he has a heart problem and that's why he's in the hospital, but doesn't understand why he can't leave. He's very amiable and likes to talk to anybody who will talk back. He's able to walk around safely and is not a threat to himself or others, so we can't really assign him a "sitter" or anything. The trouble is, he keeps wandering around. Usually, he sticks to our floor... but once in a while he ventures off to other floors.

Today we were a little short on staff and I was watching my team plus another person's while he was on lunch - a total of 18 rooms to watch! A few of them were empty, but it's still a long stretch of rooms with some patients who need pretty serious care.

I got a phone call while passing out lunch trays - the ward clerk told me she just got a call from the emergency department, where my patient was walking around. That's on the first floor and we're on the fifth. I had to stop what I was doing to run downstairs. When I got there, they told me he was on his way to the cafeteria. On my way to the cafeteria, I see him walking toward me. I told him I had his lunch in his room and that it was getting cold, so he was more than happy to go back with me. "Let's go!!" He ran off to the elevator.

*sigh*

Got A Gob?

Great day at work... it was a poop day. It just seemed like everybody had to poop and nobody could do it in the toilet. One lady had been enjoying lunch with her husband and daughter when she suddenly pooped. In her chair. She was embarrassed of course (while for me it's kind of an every day thing to clean up), so I told her she would be surprised at how common it is. I helped her to the bathroom where I put the "hat" in the toilet to collect her stool. We needed a stool sample, so it was perfect timing. When she was done, I got a spoon and the appropriate bowl (yes, there is such a thing), and spooned it out. I try to get a lot for the labs because I really don't want to have to do it again. I got a lot.

Another lady was on the bedside commode when she called me in. She said, "I've got a gob hanging on and I need you to knock it off or something."

Oh, poop.

So Many Stories, So Little Time

Being in nursing school has really put a crimp on my writing time! Okay, okay, not that I have been blogging much anyway. Lately I have realized that I have a lot of really fun stories and have not put them down anywhere... and people need to hear this stuff!! Realistically, most of it will be boring with the exception of hospital stuff. Just a warning.

I went to the local Scandinavian Festival recently. Some people go for the dancing and music (HAHAHAHA) and for the tradition. I go for the food. And this year, as I've been trying to exercise and lose weight, the Scandi Fest was my excuse to eat and eat badly!



Oh, sweet funnel cake!! How I love thee!!!