Keys and Other Nostalgia

It's a fairly well known fact that I don't function well in the mornings. It's also a fairly well known fact that I tend to procrastinate when possible. So by way of quick lead-in to the point of the story... I can't go to work if I don't renew my Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification before it expires on the last day of the month. I hate taking these renewal classes. It's roughly the equivalent of a required training for the people who flip the burgers at McDonalds. If that's your job, it's what you do all day, and you get pretty good at it since it's a skill you do every day when you're at your job. Now imagine that everyone who works at McDonalds has to take the hamburger flipping training every two years. Even the people who just wash the floors. It can get quite painful for the people who spend the large majority of their time at work doing what is taught in the class to sit through 8 hours with people who don't do it ever, but still in the class. Both groups work at McDonalds, both are important, but I'm sure you see what I'm getting at. So, since I am terrible at doing things a) I'm told I have to do and especially b) I don't like doing I put this class off until the last possible minute. End result, I had to get up at 0400 this morning to drive to the only remaining class in the area before the end of the month; in Portland, OR.

Fine. It was my doing, and I haven't taken a good road trip for a while, and I've never actually been to Portland, so it's gonna be fine. I get up on time and leave on time and all is well. It is a BEAUTIFUL drive from Seattle to Portland! I loved every minute of it. I got to the class about half an hour early and decided I'd stop at the gas station nearby to get some bottled water before going in. I came out of said gas station with my 2 bottles of water, and realized I didn't know where my keys were. After searching through my entire semi-large bag and all pockets, I can't find them. I then walk around to the passenger side and peer in the window. Sure enough, there they were in the ignition. Bummer. Thank goodness I keep a spare key in my wallet for just such occasions. Oh wait, as I look inside I see my spare key on my center console where I left it when I was cleaning out my change purse the day before. Big bummer. So I call a locksmith, who says he'll be there in 15 minutes. Which is good news because I will still be able to make my mandatory class on time. I lean against my trunk waiting for the guy to show up, wondering why the car parked next to me has been running for so long with no one in sight. Then I realize my car is vibrating slightly. It takes me ALL this time to realize that not only did I forget to take my keys with me before I locked the doors, I forgot to turn the ignition off before locking the door to run in and grab my bottles of water. Yeah. So in the end, my two bottles of water ended up costing me about $85. But it could have been worse. Like the time I locked my keys in the car at the gas station at 2 in the morning in the middle-of-nowhere southeast UT on the way back from LasCruces, New Mexico. Or the time I dropped my keys down the elevator shaft as described here. Man, if my keys could talk!!

But this wasn't my only trip down memory lane today. I also had my ipod on shuffle and the song "I Wanna Do It All" by Terri Clark came on. I hadn't heard this song for years. Not since it was my theme song before I moved away and off on my own. It had been my mantra, the lyrics like a mini bucket list for me. I had accomplished nothing in the song at the time and spent many hours dreaming of doing so. This time as I listed I was nostalgic over memories of the times I had been to and done nearly every thing in the song. My how time flies.

Also, the royal wedding. I've heard the term 'royal wedding' so many times I could vomit. I was excited for it, just tired of hearing it. So as I watched as I was getting ready for the day in the wee hours of the morning, my heart smiled. Beautiful people, beautiful wedding, such a great fairytale come true. Which of course made me think of all things THIS post. Ah life. What a nostalgic day :)

Easter Season

I know that my Redeemer lives. The words to one of my most favorite hymns. I love taking a moment on these special type holidays that tend to become so commercialized and secular and just remember the true meaning. I'm not saying I don't love the easter bunny and pin-wheels and bubbles (my favorite easter basket prizes when I was little). Actually, I still have parts to a medical kit I got for easter from my Grandma and Grandpa when I was little ...I've always known I wanted to be a nurse, but this little stethoscope and reflex hammer kit kind of cemented it for me :)

But on this special day I just wanted to make a note that I'm also especially grateful for the knowledge I have of a Savior who loves me at all times and through all the bumps in my road. The Savior who's rising from the dead we commemorate today. Easter to me is also a symbol of all things coming new again, and a sure sign of spring. I'll leave you with a few pictures from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival that I went to the other day.

For some reason I kind of fell in love with this particular white tulip. In a 17 acre field full of rows and rows and rows of every color, this one was the only one growing away all on it's own.

Just Around the Riverbend

Remember when you were young and you were going to change the world? I remember when I was little and even when I was not so little, I was so sure that I was destined for great things. When I left my home in North Logan UT and headed to New York City I was being all that I could be. I was making something of myself and conquering the world. I also conquered the world in Southern California, Seattle, and NYC again. So now here I am pondering away. I think that sometimes the world kicks back just a little bit. We get discouraged and we get our feelings hurt by this friend or by that comment or by that missed opportunity. Things work out the opposite of the way we thought they should and sometimes I think we forget to get back up. Just for a minute. No one thinks that they want to be defeated forever, no one wants to be defeated at all I'm sure. But sometimes I think it's easy to sit down on the hike of life and just take a break for a minute. And before you know it it's been a lot more than a minute. Something happens, you get a refreshing reminder from this friend or from that comment, you see new opportunities, and you realize how stagnant you had been. Rest is over, there are worlds to be changed, people places and things to improve!! Things pick up and you pick yourself up an get moving. Ah, forward progress. Not always forward, sometimes sideways, sometimes back, and sometimes in circles because, well, that's life. But motion none the less. We are still destined for great things. Each of us. I can't not believe that! Just a thought for the day :) Happy Weekend!! Oh, and, new favorite quote I heard the other day... "Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world." --Brenda Peterson

An Early Glimpse?

Is it possible that it's really starting to be spring?! It's amazing what a little blue sky and sunshine can do to brighten a girls life. It's that time of year. When I am the most frustrated with the dreary grey sky and constant rain and ready to throw in the towel and migrate south. And as happens so often in life, right at your breaking point there is a release. Today that release came in the form of a day off filled with blue skies, sunshine, white puffy clouds, green grass, blue lakes, sailboats, baseball, cotton candy, blossoms on trees, and the beginnings of green coloring the ivy that hangs on bridges and overpasses. It's the time of year when I again become enchanted with this land of wonders that I live in. When I'm reminded of why exactly it is that I chose to make Seattle my home. When it's sunny here there is truly no place prettier. And spring is indeed coming! I can feel it, and I'm so excited!!! I'm even planning an outing to the tulip festival. I missed the daffodil festival, but I'm so excited that 3 of my favorite signs of spring are back!

Dream a Little Dream

I am totally burned out on life right now. I quite honestly hate my job. I never want to go in, and when I leave I am so angry that it takes me an abnormal amount of time to go to sleep. The thing is I don't know what else I would honestly do. And, oh, I got into the University of Washington to further my degree in the job that I hate... I suppose I should clarify. I love being a registered nurse. I love taking care of super sick patients and massive traumas. Or just polite "normal" people. Even if you're there for an hangnail you've had for three months, if you're just nice, that's all I really care about. The thing is, I don't get to take care of massive traumas all that often at work. The really sick patients are few and far between, and the nice ones are literally non-existent. And I loathe management. I hate that the few of us who know what we're doing and are actually capable of doing our jobs end up getting shat on day in and day out because no one else is competent. I detest the fact that there have been around 30 patients in the waiting room every night at work, and nothing is being done about it. I hate that I am asked if I can stay late every single night (Literally. I've kept track. Every single shift for the last four months.) because of one "surprise" or another. If we're not getting our tails kicked it's because we're short staffed. And if we're not short staffed it's because the charge nurse was caught off guard by the number of beds we "all of a sudden" have to have closed. Even though we close the exact same beds at the exact same time every day of the week for the last year.

Phew. Now that I have that off my chest (sorry for complaining), on to the point...

So I've pondered a lot lately about what else I'd rather be doing. And I have a secret. You know what I dream of doing? I would absolutely love to be a high school history teacher. I had a US history teacher my junior year of high school that was so wonderful that I think each of her students wanted to be just like her at one point. I've always LOVED US history. I have an associates degree in nursing and a bachelors degree in exercise science and I dream of being a high school history teacher. Go figure :) Do I feel 'right' about it? No, or that's what I'd be doing ...but it's nice to dream. Also, I'm sure that if I were a history teacher I'd be beyond irritated at the stupid parents, and I wouldn't get paid enough, and I'm sure I'd hate a child or two. So I'm starting school in June to finish my bachelors degree in nursing. And I came to the realization the other day, that if I don't go on and get a masters degree, I will be the only one of my siblings not to get a graduate degree. And I can't be outdone! Lol, but seriously... With a masters degree in nursing, I would not get pain a single cent more than I do right now at work. With my associates degree. So it would be pure professional pride and good ol' fashioned sibling rivalry that I'd do it for. Well, that and for a back up plan for when I'm 60 and don't want to run all over the ER anymore. So back to school I go. And I'm excited. But I must admit that I'm more excited for my two electives I get to take than I am for any of the nursing stuff. Which electives am I taking? US history through the civil war and US history from the civil war to present day.

So for now i'm content to dream. I dream every day. I dream of running away. I dream of tropical islands and cities yet to be explored. I dream of foreign countries and continents and vacations yet to come. I dream of airplanes and sunshine. I dream of city streets and skyscrapers and parks. I dream of having a quiet house in the country suburbs somewhere with a picket fence, planter boxes, and shutters. I dream of having someone to come home to and snuggly up to in bed at night. I dream of babies to love and raise. I dream of having a puppy to play with and flowers to garden. I dream of laughter filled walks at dusk in khaki capris, a pastel button up shirt, and a white cardigan. I dream because as Walt Disney said, "If you can dream it, you can do it. ...All our dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them." What do you secretly dream of?