Everyday Happenings: Do It All

Today could have been a bad day. I woke up to a bear-sized present from my dog this morning, extending all the way up the stairs. I got another present from my Aunt Flo, which totally botched all hope of losing weight this week. The house is a disaster, the studies are pilling up, I worked crazy hours all weekend, and I have my first ER rotation this evening with clinicals.

But, lastnight, I wrote myself a little note, because, you know, you're always inspired before bed. You're always like, "Tomorrow, I'm going to be perfect and I'm going to do A through Z." So you set your alarm for early and you write down a to-do list in your planner, and you write yourself notes.

I AM HARDCORE.

That's what I wrote. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I was looking at jobs lastnight that I'm going to apply for, all which are in an ER or ICU. And I thought, those nurses are hardcore. I am hardcore.

So, I had all intentions of being hardcore this morning. And then Lilly and the rest of life was like, "Goodmorning! Deal with this.....". Blah. Nevertheless, I went all Nutrigrain-bar-commercial on life's ass and knew that one good decision would warrant more.

And, so I started running again.

And, the running is good.

The weather is that perfect transition weather right now. Not too hot, but still really sunny. Not too cold, but still cool enough so that whatever you're doing outside feels a little bit easier. We ran. We haven't done that in two weeks. Running was not working out for me. It was not getting easier. It was becoming very frustrating, the opposite of what I wanted it to be. I wanted it to be an escape from whatever I needed to escape from. So, I took a couple of weeks off, and reintroduced myself today. If it starts to hurt, I'll slow down. If I don't achieve my daily goals, I'll reevaluate them. As simple as that.

We ran for 10 one-minute intervals today. Past the highschool, across a baseball field, up some hills, and through a couple of neighborhoods. It felt natural today. It felt like I was already conquering the day. On the way home, we entered our neighborhood, and about 5 houses in, Lilly got into that familiar position of sniffing the grass and bending her back legs to the ground. This time though, she plopped down on the lush grass, rolled around, and then laid down, as if to say, "This, this right here is good. Let's stop here."

The choices continued. Like what I had for breakfast.

Strawberries and bananas, that all I wanted.

Yesterday was my "don't you dare do anything after work" day. I put in 9.5 hours with the Red Cross teaching, didn't get home until 6, managed to cook a decent dinner, and then watched about 2 hours of The Office. To which, I decided that if I am ever widowed, I will try to pursue John Krasinski. He's Polish, so I think K would give me his blessing. I'm still trying to find that balance with this new semester. I feel like I'm making a breakthrough this week. Everything is falling into place schedule-wise, and its steady enough to develop a routine. Still, I'm feeling pretty good and that means I'm going to try to squeeze as much in as possible. School and work. Exercise and walking the dog. Relationship maintenance and building. Wedding planning and Fall decorating.

And, where I can, hobbies. That means photography, gardening, and writing. The garden is still going, despite the holes that the groundhog keeps putting in its leaves. We're slowing down on tomato production, but still seeing some beauties. I need to make basil before the nights get really chilly.

Writing is something I want to develop this year. Not for any profit or recognition, but for my own soul.

I also picked up If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland, which is pretty much a book that you'd want to highlight in its entirety.

I have about an hour and a half before my rotation. Yes, I'm nervous. ER's are scary, they're fast paced. Before I go though, I'm going to try and take a little more out of this day. I'm going to let my wet hair dry in the sunshine. I'm going to check my dog's pulse to make sure the run wasn't too much. I'm going to sit downstairs and be happy, even though my basement looks like this: