In Memory of

Please pray for the families of the 4 officers who were brutally murdered today in Lakewood, WA.  They were targetted and killed off-duty 0815 this morning. How can one person cause so much devastation?

Infamous Seattle

Living in Central Pennsylvania, but being from Seattle has its benefits. You always have an ice breaker at a party. You'll always have something interesting about yourself to talk about, something unexpected.  Because, not a lot of people willingly move to this area.  But, that's besides the point.

So, when I do let people know where I'm from, I'll usually get the following: "Why did you move HERE?", "Did you move here for a man?", and eventually, "Doesn't it ALWAYS rain there?" 

Yes, I did move here for a man, and that's working out swell.  And, no, it doesn't rain there all the time!  Did you know there's more annual rain fall in Philly, DC, New York, Boston, and Miami?  Miami!!! It does rain, thank God, because its so green.  If you're not from the Pacific Northwest, then you pretty much sum that area up as rainy.  So not the case.

However, recently there's a new subject that people are fixated on when you mention Seattle.  Sigh.  I didn't want to talk about it, especially now because everyone is.  But, I guess now is better a time than any: Twilight. Yes, that book series and now movie series.  My new hairdresser here asked me one time (after hearing I was from Seattle, and after I told her about the lack of rain) if Seattle's tourism has gone up since the books.  I didn't even know at the time where the story took place. 

Which leads me to the main point of this post.  Seattle is a gem. Seattle is a hidden treasure. Seattle is not just rain, coffee, apples, and salmon, and now some teeny bopper books.  Unfortunately, a lot of people have it in their heads of what Seattle is. Yes, we have Starbucks coffee, but did you know that Seattle's Best coffee is actually better? Pike Place Market is on everyone's list to see, but don't just go to watch the flying fish! They won't throw the fish if you don't buy anything!! Try the cinnamon-sugar mini doughnuts right around the corner from the flying fish. Travel across the cobblestone lane and you'll find another portion of the market, unattached, that has beautiful breads, multi-cultural cuisine, and produce.  Pick up the Chukar Cherries near the skybridge entrance. Hell, go outside and find Mt. Rainier! 

This area should not be defined by Forks, WA, an abandoned logging town.  It should be defined by the Hoh rainforest (right next to Forks, WA).  People should read about our mountains and our waterfronts. They should travel for our cuisine, for our wild mussels and blackberries.  We should talk about the history of this place, about our lifestyles, and about our connection to this land. 

That vampire story has been told before.  There have been better movies and better television shows devoted to its metaphors and passion-filled tales.  For goodness sake, please don't come to Washington because you want to take the Twilight tour.  Especially since its being filmed in Canada now.

Get it together, kid

You're all thinking that, right? More posts! More posts! All the both of you who follow this are thinking exactly that. I don't blame you. 

Most days, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by advancing my nursing career.  I think about all the lives that I've helped, all the elderly hands that have patted my bottom (literally), and all of the bodily fluids that I've come into contact with.  And I wonder, is this what I want for the next 30 years?  My gut says no, but my wallet is like, "yes, yes!!!!". So I continue, because I do believe in medicine and I like answering questions from my family members about this drug and that disease.  I also believe that with more education, I'll really get to a place where I'm meant to be.

Then, something happens that makes me question all of that good reasoning again.  Take last night for example:  I hear this blood curtling scream at the nurses station from way down the hall. Just a horror-filled scream.  I'm thinking---someone has fallen, someone's been stuck in a bathroom for 30 minutes with the call light on, I don't know....maybe a mouse??? 

These kinds of screams are pretty common in a nursing home because you have a lot of hallucinations (probably brought on by the calcium pills that we're shoving down their 95 year old throats).  But, I rush anyways because the sooner you get there, the less you have to clean up. Ha, no I was really concerned.

I hear it again as I get closer, and decide its coming from this one room, which is inhabited by this schizophrenic Jewish lady.  She's propped up in bed, red as a beet, her facial expressions mimicking her earlier screams.

So, I ask her what's wrong.

"They didn't put MAYO, on my TURKEY SANDWICH!!!!"

What? Is that all?

Yes.

To which I proceed to look down at her plate--her empty plate. She already ate it. There was nothing that I could do. 

Times like this are the times I want my money back from nursing school.

November already?

Yikes, my last post was way back on Oct 12th. Not that anything has happened since then, its just principle. What can I say, I'm livin the life: Full time work and part time school, mixed in with a little sleeping.  I wish I had some funny stories from work and/or nursing school, but alas, everything is all a blur. 

K and I are seeing less of each other lately, but not by choice. He's got the same schedule as I do, and next month we will have even less time together. And less money, also not by choice. You see, my school has decided to schedule classes Monday thru Friday next semester, and having them end between 2-3 pm. This means day and evening shift are out of the picture.  I will be working the weekends only pretty much for 3 months. Not ideal for a single girl living by herself in Harrisburg. This mecca requires rent and all utilities be paid out of pocket. The solution: I'm movin in with my guy.

Sin!  Calm down, the good Lord isn't going to condemn me. 

So it will be interesting.  Two dogs coming together. Date nights spent with the xbox.  Two soulmates working on the days they're not going to school. Its going to be a fun year.

Sick as a dog

This was a bad weekend.  A stressful weekend, a weekend that I'll probably never forget.  That little puppy up there had to have emergency surgery.  She ate part of a towel last weekend, which isn't that unusual for her.  What is unusual is that she stopped eating.  My dog is a vaccum cleaner when it comes to food.  She doesn't chew, she just inhales.  So, when she wouldn't touch her food, we started to get really concerned. And when she wouldn't walk down the stairs, I knew something serious was happening.

We took her to an emergency vet in York, PA on Friday afternoon. She had blood tests, xrays, and they indicated she needed surgery.   The doctor called half way through and told us that he needed to remove 2-4 ft of her intestine because she had such a bad blockage and it was causing her insides to kink.  We had 5 minutes to decide what to do.

Some of you may never understand this decision. You may look at it from strictly a financial perspective.  We looked at everything. The odds were stacked against her statistically, but we knew that she had the fight and the energy to make it through. I didn't care how my lifestyle was going to change. I didn't care about cleaning up after her more or buying different food.  We told him to proceed.  She was in surgery for 7 hours.  She didn't eat all of Saturday. Finally, on Sunday,when she was given less pain medicine, she inhaled her food again and we got to take her home.

That was this weekend.  Today, we spent the whole day together and she is doing great.  I don't regret one decision.  She is happier now, more comfortable than before, and just wants to play.  The next few weeks may be tough, but I know that her lifestyle isn't compromised and that I made the right decision. 

Lilly is a special dog.  She is empathetic and affectionate, she's gentle and spunky.  She's my first dog as an adult and it didn't seem right to give up on her at 10 months old. She has so much to do and to see.  I'm so grateful for the chance to play with her again, and I'm so thankful for the doctors and techs who helped her this weekend.  I was very close to loosing her. 

From now on, everytime we take a hike together, play in the snow, go for walks along the pond near my apartment, and cuddle in bed, I'm going to remember this weekend and cherish the time that we have that much more. 

Love Happens

Normally, I wouldn't comment on a movie, but I will on this one because it was in SEATTLE!!!! As far as romantic movies go, I give it a 5/10. I didn't really buy the characters or a lot of the plot line. BUT, the shots of the city were so gorgeous.

I mean seriously now, how can you not fall in love at first sight with Seattle? It’s a city on the water. Go in farther and it’s a city of artwork. Did you know that Seattle has to devote 1% of its budget every year to public art? Many fiscal conservatives, like me, would think this is a waste. It’s not. It’s essential. It only adds to the splendor of Seattle. I'm biased though.

The movie got horrible reviews, but that's because they weren't written by Seattleites. Many of us would appreciate the many nods to Seattle. Yes, there's the obligatory shot of Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. But there was more. Emphasis on the ferry pier. A shout out to Mt. Rainier. A cameo by the Fremont Troll. Even Bruce Lee's tombstone made an appearance. I loved it all.

And yes, I'll admit it: I teared up a little when they showed the city. It’s one of my great loves.

A couple of side notes: No, you can't climb stairs up the Space Needle. I don't think they even exist! Also, a taxi would not drop you off at Pike Place in order for you to get to your hotel. And never, ever release a tropic bird into the chilly coniferous woods of the Pacific Northwest. It cannot adapt. It’s not a seagull.

Good movie though. It showed that we are a people of good music, beautiful surroundings, and comfy, fall clothing.

2 years down

As promised, here is my post about what it was like and is like to move to PA.

First of all, let me just tell you how fast the last 2 years have gone. Probably not for my parents, but looking back it has flown for me. I made the decision to move to Pennsylvania late in 2006, which was less than a year after K and I started officially dating. He and I go way back, almost 10 years now, but we stopped talking for a bit and started up again 2/06. After several agonizing good-byes in multiple airports, I had had enough. With my job being so flexible, I decided to go ahead and give the East Coast a shot. So, on Sept. 18th, we loaded up my little Hyundai Elantra, and drove across the country.

It took us about a week, and it could have taken less, but we visited family on the way. On the first day, we drove from Seattle to Bozeman, MT. It was September and we got caught in a blizzard. We stayed in a dinky Best Western, arrived very late, and awoke to the mountains the next morning. We had no idea how beautiful the place was.

Next we drove from Bozeman through Yellowstone, finally arriving in Jackson Hole, WY. This is now one of my most favorite places on earth. Seriously, there's something about Jackson Hole that just makes me feel alive. That's really cliché, huh? Well, make fun of me, and continue to do so, because we're totally honeymooning there someday!!!

Yellowstone was beautiful, but we much preferred the nearby Teton Mountain range.

We woke up early to a chilly 40 degree morning, and drove through the most boring part of our country (the rest of WY), and ended up in CO with my aunt and uncle. The next day we drove to Nebraska to visit my other aunt. The next two days we drove through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, finally Ohio and Pennsylvania. There's nothing to share about those states because you can only say so many things about corn.

It was a blur of a trip for me. I already missed home and I was so scared of how I would adapt. And yet, it was smooth sailing on that trip relationship-wise. He drove, I slept, and we supported each other.

I'm not going to go into great detail about the last two years, except to say this: I'm glad I took this chance. I'm glad that I took a chance on a boy from the East Coast, ten years ago, 2 years ago, and today. I'm glad that I took a chance and went for what I wanted in my life. I'm glad that I had the confidence in myself to take that chance. Fear holds us back and makes us regret life. 2 years ago, I turned my back on fear and got into that car, and I'm so grateful for what came after.