I'll figure out how to be the one left behind

I am sitting here in the JFK airport waiting for a flight still two hours away.  It feels like just yesterday I was taking this picture and yet here we are together going back to Oregon.  My summer has been enriched in a way I didn't know possible.  And while at times waking up at the ass crack of dawn was a pain, it was great to know there was always someone I could talk to.  I am still making plans for the fall and I think, "Rebel will be there" and then I remember that we're gone from Boston and she's not returning with me.  I've done this before, survived a year without OR friends, but I've always been the one that leaves, not the one that gets left.

"Missing CrimeBusters, which is on the USA Network at 4:30 every day, thanks to the wonders of syndication.  Even though I know all 114 of the episodes by heart, watching them daily is as important to me as taking insulin would be to a diabetic.  My whole day is planned around it, and if I can't have my fix, I get shaky."

"She yelled at me for seventy-nine straight minutes, mostly about how violated she felt by my actions, and then she got even more angry because I couldn't really understand why something I did had upset her.  So she took ten of my CrimeBusters notebooks and ran them through her bill shredder page by page, and suddenly, her point was crystal clear.  I was so furious that, that night, I dumped the bin of shredded paper over her head while she was asleep."

"I have a joke:
Two muffins are in an oven.
One muffin says, "Wow, it's really hot in here."
The other one jumps and says, "Yikes! A talking muffin."

This is funny because
1. Muffins don't talk
2.  I am sane enough to know that.  In spite of what my mother and Oliver and practically every psychiatrist in Vermont seem to think, I have never struck up a conversation with a muffin in my entire life.
3.  That would just be plain corny.
4. You got that joke, too, right?

Things I've Learned This Week

• Doctors might go to school forever, but nurses keep hospitals going
• Hospital gowns don't fit
• A man definitely designed hospital gowns since there was a hole right over the chest
• Nurses are the best advocates out there
• having a team of doctors stand around a hospital bed is really intimidating
• More nurses need to be administrators in hospitals, or at least planners.  Things would get done a lot more efficiently
• Trying to get all the information out of a patient as you wake them up is not the greatest plan
• having a support system makes a hospital stay that much easier
• It's the little things in life that matter

I just got back from Snowbird, UT, working.  I laughed in my head because technically I could have said "I'm here on business."  Clearly, I never did, but that's alright.  This was a last minute trip, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  The trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I feel like the luckiest person ever.  I got to ski every morning, and then I took care of Julia during nap time.  I have the greatest benefits in the world, and want to plan my own trip there.  

Back from heaven:

A lot of things different

A lot of things have changed since the last time I wrote.  I started a new job and moved to a new state.  Both have been very exciting, and stressful too.

I started my job as a nanny, and I absolutely love it.  I take care of a 7 year old boy and a 3.5 year old girl and they are some of the greatest kids out there today.  Some days are pretty tough, but isn't it that way for everyone?  My days are filled with jokes and driving, dancing and music, woodworking and gymnastics, and lots of playdates in between.

I just moved; back in with my roommate from college and it is great.  We are a mile and a half from my work, which certainly makes my life easy, and we got the steal of the year for the apartment.  We still have a lot of hanging of things up to do, but besides that we are loving it.

The Condition

I just finished this book last night and I loved it. The characters in this book feel real, and at times I just wanted to pick up the mother and shake her. The father too, but for different reasons. It made these characters real for me, since I tend to feel that way about many people. I try to fathom what each of these characters is going through/goes through and I just can't do it. I know that the way I am writing this is completely vague, but I can't find the words to say how I feel about this book. I loved it and I looked forward to it every night. I definitely recommend it, but I can't really tell you why.

We bought this book on the outskirts of Rainier National Park this summer in Washington, and I completely forgot about it until mom brought it home from work. I like to read novels, and books of stories don't usually interest me, but this has some really funny stories in it. I suggest to those who enjoy camping, once enjoyed camping, or enjoy hearing about the misfortune/lack of brain cells in other people. The situations, like getting trapped in a boat with an angry rattlesnake, make for amusing stories to put a smile on your face.