Nurse on the Run

It wasn’t until yesterday that I became sad about Thanksgiving.  Why would I be sad about Thanksgiving?  Well, I’m working both Thanksgiving Thursday (and Black Friday) this year.  I was originally okay with this because my family doesn’t really do a big Thanksgiving dinner with lots of people, so all I’m really missing is dinner with my parents and two siblings.  However, yesterday I started hearing all the talk about people going home for Thanksgiving and what their plans are with their families…and it made me a little sad.  Even if we don’t have a big celebration, my family is my family and I’m not seeing them on Thanksgiving.

Here are a few traditions that my family has:

• The Turkey Trot.  It started with my brother and me running a two mile Turkey Trot.  We ran it a couple years in a row together (during which he would wait until the gun went off to take off his sweatpants…not exactly competitive), and then he was off in Iraq one year, so my friend’s brother (also named Ryan) ran with my as my “Ryan replacement.”  It’s always been a combo of people in some way or form.
• Bakers Square pies.  Why would you make your own when they make such FABULOUS pies??  I had to work last year as well, so I made a pretty good replication of my favorite pie…it was quite delicious.
• Perusing the ads for Black Friday.  I love sitting with the newspaper and looking at all the sales, even if I don’t actually go buy anything.  Plus, my parents and I make a joint effort to complete the crossword puzzles in the paper as well.

Not being at home with my family makes me think about the patients and their families.  I’ve only been working on my new unit for a few short weeks, but I’ve noticed that some patients don’t have any family come visit them.  I’m on there three days a week, so maybe I miss the visitors…but it seems like some patients don’t have anyone come visit them.  Sad, isn’t it?  I have one patient in mind who has been around for awhile, but I haven’t seen anyone visit this person.  It kind of breaks my heart.  We did hospice at my last job, and I watched people die surrounded by family while others died alone.  Although I don’t get to see my family this Thanksgiving, I know that if something tragic happened to me (such as ending up on a burn unit…or anything involving the hospital), they would be there in a second…and I guess you can’t ask for much better than that.

Nicole and I will be spending Thanksgiving taking care of your family members…and getting paid time and a half for it!  Nice perk there.    Enjoy your pie and time with your family!

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I had a lovely run yesterday with the Sasquatch crew last night…a little jog around the big loop in Central Park.  It was a fun, relaxed run with a fabulous group of people….who had to put up with my talks of bodily functions (I’m a nurse, okay?) and jazz hands.  The moon looked especially pretty (is this random enough for you yet?), and I got to catch up with the lovely Sharon.  Sounds good to me!  We wrapped up our run with some core work (woo!) and then parted ways…which meant I came home and watched Glee not once, but twice.

I’m so cool.

Tuesday, November 23
8.21 miles in 1:07:11, avg pace of 8:11

Not too shabby, and eight miles feels just like a walk in the park.  Love it.

When I was walking around today attempting to find my groceries (everything I needed was two blocks away…oops), I passed this site:

Window washers.  That’s right, I spotted window washers.  And stopped to take a picture of them.  Why, you might ask?  Well, as I passed them by, I thought to myself, “I could NEVER do that job!”  For those of you who don’t know, I am terrified of heights.  Terrified.  I can’t sit on someone’s shoulders because it freaks me out.  Washing windows as a job?  You couldn’t pay me enough, especially as I watched them lower themselves down to the next floor of windows.  I’d spend my entire day gripping the handrails and crying.

Okay, maybe I wouldn’t cry, but I’d want to.

Why do I mention this?  Because my current job is a bit of a conversation stopper.  People ask me where I work, and I tell them that I’m a nurse.  This question leads to the next ultimate question of, “What kind of nursing do you do?”  Pause, pause, wait for it…I work on a burn unit.  In general, I’ve found that most people don’t really know what to say in response to that, although many say, “Wow, I could never do that.”  Well…apparently I have no issues with pulling dead skin off of people (sorry, TMI?), but there are many other jobs that I could never do.  Such as window washing.  Or law.  Or a kindergarten teacher.  (That being said, I know an obscene amount of songs that involve hand motions.)

While I’m still withholding my opinions on my job until I have more experience, I realize how important it is that we all have different interests and can do things that other people wouldn’t even fathom doing.  While I’m not 100% sure I was meant to be a nurse, I do like taking care of people…and I can easily deal with lots of gross things.

Are there jobs out there that are like window washing for me?  What could you never imagine ever doing?  Someone once told me I looked like a lawyer…it was all I could do to not laugh!  I’d make a terrible lawyer.

that’s what boys are for

In other news, I found something else to add to my That’s What Boys are For list.  I attempted to take my air conditioning unit out of my window so I could open the window to counteract the obscene heat that flows throughout my apartment.  (It’s sooooo hot in my apartment!)  Anyway, naturally I managed to drop it on my toe, which has since stopped bleeding, but I was convinced I somehow broke it. 

So, boys and girls…taking AC units out of windows?  That’s what boys are for.

In other news, my room is much, much cooler now.  Victory.

Never fear, running talk will resume shortly.