Random Ramblings

I don't know what to say. But I'm bored, and don't know when I'll be able to leach onto someone elses internet access again, so I don't want to waste the time I've ...been given? :) OK, I'm in NY, you only have to go to a Starbucks (there is at least two per block ...I'm not kidding) But it's just so inconvenient! It's amazing how used we get to our own little routines and what is normal and what "should" be. I moved into my Manhattan apartment this week, and I love it. It's cute and old and charming and most importantly it's in Manhattan :) It was built before WWII and the outside of the building is nothing remarkable. But on the inside, the walls and hardwood floors have plenty of character. You can tell that the building is old, but it isn't rundown and I love it! I have an old school heater that reminds me of the one that was in the room where I took ballet when I was little. Ya know, the metal ones that sit by the wall? The air conditioners sit in the windows. One in my bedroom and one in the living room. Not that this is remarkable, but it just speaks to the character of the apartment. The phrase 'if these walls could talk' comes to mind. The walls were put up in a time where heating ducts and central air didn't exist. The walls were put up when it didn't occur to anyone that you might need more than one electrical outlet in the bathroom. I don't think people in the 1930s had to worry about the logistics of where to plug in you blow drier and flat iron and curling iron so that the latter two could be warming up while you dried your hair. The walls were put up before someone thought it would be a good idea to put a shower in the bathtub. The shower was put in later, and since I don't know plumbing mechanics I'm not sure why, but there are four handles to turn on the water. The lower two are for hot and cold water that comes out the bathtub, the upper two are for hot and cold water that comes out the shower. I love it! I love the doors the most. They are heavy and ornate in a way that gives you the feeling of being secure. They are made out of solid wood, and the doorknobs and the latch that pops in an out with each turn of the ornate knobs is little and suggestive of a simpler time. It's not hard to imagine that these are the original doors and handles that were put in when the building originated. I love history. I love architecture. That is part of why I love New York. It is a historical architecture buffs dream. I love to ponder all the possibilities of what the regal walls and buildings have seen. And I love to make up stories in my head about people that possible once lived here and inhabited these great "ancient" walls. I love to think of what they did with their time and what their daily routines might have been. I wonder what they did when they were bored. I would love to post pictures but I'm using the internet at starbucks to post this, and I don't have my camera with me. The person who lived in my apartment before me has yet to cancel her cable/phone subscription, so I can't create a new account. Therefore I've been without cable/phone/internet in my apartment. And since the boxes I shipped haven't got here yet I don't have any of my dvds. So I work, and I sleep, and I window shop, and I walk around the great city, and I run along the water or through the park. Then it gets dark so I curl up in my very comfortable couch and I read. I've read three books since I've been here (4 days). I am not handling being bored very well :) I feel bad for being bored, because I know plenty of people who would love to complain that all they had to do with their time was lay on the grass in Central Park and read a book. Again, it's all about perspective.

Work is good. I love it actually. The people I work with are awesome! On my first day I saw my first trauma and 'killed' my first patient. Twice. I use the term 'killed' loosely. Not that I actually killed them, but they did not survive their trip to the ER despite mine and my coworkers best efforts. I would love to share the rest of the stories with you, but I can't --damn HIPPA laws :) On the way home from work to get on the subway for the ride home I walk through the center of Columbia University's campus. The other day they were shooting a movie on the walkway I use. I try to act cool, like a native New Yorker, but inside I am giddy and grinning from ear to ear. It's like in Sex and the City when Carrie walks into her soon-to-be new apartment and dramatically says, "Hello. I live here." That is me every day. I keep waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up!

Well, times about up at the starbucks, so I best be going. I'll post more later. Stay tuned for pics and better stories :)

Connect Four

4 Jobs I've held

1. Nurse
2. CNA at assisted living
3. Phone Surveyor at Discovery Research
4. SnoCone maker --yum!!!

4 Movies I Can Watch Over & Over

1. Elf
2. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
3. The Recruit
4. Anchors Aweigh

4 Places I Have Lived

1. Seattle, WA
2. Mission Viejo, CA
3. Patchogue, NY (on Long Island, near the Hamptons)
4. Logan, UT

4 T.V. Shows I Enjoy

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Sports Center
3. CSI
4. Forensic Files

4 Places I have Been on Vacation

1. New York
2. Anaheim
3. SanFrancisco
4. New Mexico

4 Favorite Foods

1. Potatoes --any way you cook 'em
2. Popsicles
3. Ramen Noodles
4. Watermelon

4 Websites I visit (pretty much daily)

1. facebook.com
2. blogger.com
3. yankees.com
4. gmail.com

4 Places I Want to Visit

1. Greece
2. Washington DC
3. Costa Rica
4. Dominican Republic

Now I'm supposed to pick 4 other blog buddies to do this!
Hmmmmm....you 4 are supposed to copy this and tag 4 other people! Have fun!

1. Jenny
2. Kelsie
3. Jessica
4. Kristy & Brady

"One Short Day ..."

"... in the Emerald City, one short day full of so much to do. One short day, and we're warning the city, now that we're in here, you'll know we've been here before the day's through." These are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Broadway shows, Wicked. I've been hesitant to write anything here lately because what comes next in the logical order of things is the summation of my time in Seattle. And quite frankly, I'm just not done with that chapter of my life. So I delayed for a while trying to think of something else I could write before I was ready to wrap up the time I spent there. I came up with nothing. I'm not sure I have the energy to do this subject justice, but I'm gonna do as much as I can without crying and causing myself to go into hysterics. I did that on the drive home, and I scared poor Heidi half to death. See, I'm generally a fairly composed person. I have very overactive tear ducts, but I can let the huge alligator tears roll down my cheeks silently, and even carry on a conversation without any fluctuation in my voice. It comes in handy in my line of work. I can watch the most tragic of all tragedies without batting an eyelash, but show me a sentimental Oprah episode or McDonald's commercial (yeah, it happened :) ) and I go to pieces. Let's not talk about when the Yankees loose :). My temper is also hard-wired to my tear ducts, which just fuels the anger more, there is nothing worse than wanting to furiously yell at someone, but having the effect lessened by the small streams of water running down your cheeks and neck.

See, now I'm getting off track. Weird, I know. So, Seattle. It seems like just last week I was so excited to be out of my car after an immaculate but long drive up the Pacific Coast Highway from South Orange County. It seems like just last week, I hauled all my stuff up the elevator and into my new apartment. It seems like just last week that I went to work and made instant friends with the staff there. It seems like just last week that my life was turned upside down by a stomach full of twittery butterflies of anticipation of what was going to happen, and all the new feelings that were coursing through me at lightning speed. But it wasn't. It was 5 months ago. Five months!!!! Two months longer that I've stayed at any other travel assignment, and words can't describe how fast the time seemed to fly.

Seattle is beautiful!!! I was immediately enamored with the view of the shipyard and Elliott Bay that I had from my balcony. I also was instantly captivated by the fact that everything was green --even stuff that wasn't supposed to be, like moss covered dirt and tree trunks. I did NOT appreciate the drivers there, but after a while, I came to tolerate them out of sheer realization that my angry frustrations were not going to change things. I don't know why I don't have the power to move vehicles out of my way with my telekinesis, but I'm working on it. I fell into a pattern of shopping every day at Pike Place Market for fresh fruits, vegetables, and sea food. I'm still trying to work out how I'm going to survive without this.

I worked at a fantastic place. The staff was amazing, and the relationships and teamwork reminded me a lot of home, which was nice. They have this incredible computer charting system that I will miss terribly!! I still occasionally have a hard time figuring out why all computers don't respond to my tapping on the screen to get what I want (the whole system was a touch-screen). I won't bore you all with the specifics of the inner workings of the department, because I realize that while fascinating to me, most of you would not understand what I meant (or care if you did.) You're welcome Becky and Kristin ;)

I could have spent hours staring at the water and watching for whales and otters and fish to jump out of the Bay. I could have spent days at the Science Center and Aquarium just walking around. I have already explained that I could have lived at Pike Place. There is not one thing about Seattle that I did not thoroughly enjoy. There is one thing though that I don't understand. There is an exorbitant amount of homeless people in Seattle. Homeless in Seattle? Really? Why? It is cold and wet all the time! I was still wearing a jacket in August! Migrate south man! Time for the homeless people of Seattle to discover the beaches of Southern California!

I've learned different things from each of my assignments and the cities I've lived in. In New York I learned to be independent and stand up for myself. I gained immeasurable amounts of confidence. In Orange County I learned the value of customer service, and the way that people should be treated and act. In Seattle, I was home. In Seattle, I fell in love. I fell hard, and it was wonderful. And now it's awful, because for whatever reason, I am supposed to leave and go to New York. I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time discussing this, I'm just not ready, and my family as anxiously watching over my shoulder, waiting to comfort me when I fall apart. Darn it! All I want to do is curl up in a ball in my own little apartment and not have to talk or deal with anyone until I'm ready. The grass is always greener. When I would have hard times in Seattle with the decisions, I would feel so alone, and I longed for the arms of friends and family to hug me and tell me everything would be OK, and that it would work out the way it was supposed to. I know this, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. (BTW, a special thanks to those of you who put up with late-night hysterical phone calls) Now that I'm here and have access to plenty of hugs, I just want to be left alone. This is getting depressing ...so, moving on.

So, in Seattle, I fell in love. I also found the other half of my brain. My friend Siobhan and I are literally the same person. She is the non-LDS version of me. I lost count of the times that we said the same things at the same time in the same tone of voice after the first hour we spent together. It never got old freaking Josh and Joe out when we would look at them with the unknowingly same expressions on our faces. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without her! It feels like we've been friends for our entire lives. Thank goodness for phones and the internet! I'm not sure what my post-Seattle adventures hold, but I'm excited to find out. OK, I'm willing to find out. I left my heart in Seattle, and I'm not sure when I get it back. I'm excited to throw myself into blood and guts at the level one trauma center in Manhattan. I'm excited to get lost and found again in the beat of the city that I once loved so much. So stay tuned. I'm assured that many adventures are yet to come, and if the Lord truly does bless up like I believe he does, what's coming next is going to be freaking awesome!!!

Oh, ps, I'm on my parents old-school dial-up non-highspeed internet and don't have the patience to post pictures, so just check out my facebook page for them, or I'll try to post more later!