Playing the Whale Waiting Game

Ahh, weekend. A chance to breathe and decompress and sleep. Last weekend was none of those things...but it was a wonderful, fun, fast-paced, car-filled, mini-reunion of siblings in Seattle.

Jeff and Amie arrived on Thursday (my day off), and I drove to the airport and snuck up on them at baggage claim. I could write a corny poem here about how great it is to see people that you love after a time apart....but I'll spare you all. The weather wasn't fabulous; kind of cloudy and drizzly, but they were excited for the cool temperatures. After a tour of my still couchless apartment, we went walking around Ballard. In my favorite store, Jeff found a thoroughly Seattle accessory that I'll let him talk about in his blog post. Although they were hesitant to go in at first, I think everybody ended up enjoying the weirdness at Archie McPhee (www.mcphee.com). 

We walked to the botanical garden and the Chittenden Locks (my third visit, but still enjoyable). They were draining one of the locks, and we got to see these huge starfish that were living at the bottom. The fish ladder was quite sad...apparently the great Salmon exodus is over by now, but there was one sad and tired-looking fish still trying to make his way up the ladder. I doubt he made it :( Rest in peace, my friend.

We stopped for lunch at Hamburger Harry's, so I now know a local place to go if I suddenly desire to watch sporting events on big tvs in public with strangers and tasty burgers. We also swung by Cupcake Royale for dessert. I think Jeff and Amie have a similar opinion to mine about said cupcakes: they look better than they taste. But the icing is delicious. 

We rested for awhile back at my place, and Jeff and Amie got to meet my roommate when she got home. We all sat and chatted for awhile, and entertained ourselves by reading the 'Missed Connections' on Craigslist. If you have never done this, it is quite amusing and a fun way to waste time. 

Dinner that night was at Ray's Cafe. The sunset was lovely, although blinding to Jeff who I had considerately seated facing the water :) Kara came with us, and Dora & Steven met us there when they got off work. Ray's has yet to disappoint me, and I think everyone else enjoyed the food (best calamari evah!), drinks, and ambience as well. 

Friday I had to work till 3:30, so I'll let Jeff tell you about their day in his post. In the evening, I picked up Jeff and Amie from their hotel, and we drove 10 miles north to his friend's house in Lynnwood. Normally, I love Lynnwood. There's a great mall there that I've been to several times, and it usually takes aroun 20 minutes by highway. Unfortunately, it was a Friday at rush hour, and there seem to be only three roads that run north-south. I started out on a four-lane (highway 94-ish, for those of you from the Lou) road. After an hour of the traffic and hitting pretty much every single red light, I decided to try the highway. Bad idea...as it was a parking lot. Then we wasted time trying to get back to our original road. It was painfully humerous, and we were all exhausted and famished. Eventually we made it, and after finding 1 1/2 hour plus wait times at a couple of restaurants, ended up eating at the Nordstrom bistro, which was pretty good.

Saturday was whale day. I picked up Jeff and Amie around 8, and we drove 77 miles to Anacortes (apparently pronounced Ana-cor-tiss, not Ana-cortez like I thought). We drove through some really heavy fog and clouds, but when we arrived at the coast it was sunny and beautiful. After checking in at the gift shop (where I found a stuffed whale that makes whale sounds when you push its tail that Amie wouldn't let me buy for my future nephew), we stopped for donuts on our way to the dock. We sat and took some pictures until the captain of the boat rounded up all 120 of us and gave his spiel about rules/safety/expectations, etc. Then we were off.

Amie and I, excited to begin our whale adventure. At this point, we were both at optimum body temperature in our light layers.

This is our boat, the Island Explorer 3. We mostly stayed on the top deck, in the back (aft) the whole time. 

Our second wildlife sighting of the day (the first was a mature bald eagle that we saw as we were setting sail from the marina). He's a California sea lion, and it seemed like he was posing for us as our boat circled his buoy.

Jeff, Amie, and little Xav's first ever whale-watching adventure. Here's hoping there will be many, many more in the years to come :)

Me and Amie. You can see that I've added a layer of clothing, because I don't have a mini-human inside my womb to keep me warm. Eventually I switched from cute hat to warm hat that covered my ears, switched to a warmer scarf, and zipped up my windbreaker. I should have worn long underwear.

Highlights of whale watching:

- Our eternally optimistic Captain Mike, who kept reminding us of all the wildlife we had seen so far, and encouraged us not to give up because we could still see a whale

- People watching our fellow passengers. Some of our favorites were the whale paparazzi with their giant cameras, and the large group of German (or maybe Dutch) people who were with us on the top deck. Our not-so-favorites included: cranky couple from Ohio, constantly making-out couple, and odd boy wearing a blanket as a cape.

- Being out on the water on a gorgeous day

- Chili cheese nachos from the galley

- Seeing: a bald eagle, several sea lions, several harbor seals (the friendly dogs of the ocean...love the way their little heads pop up out of the water, curious to see what's going on), a bunch of porpoises that I can't remember the name of, and two Minke whales

Lowlights of whale watching:

- We went whale watching, and the biggest thing we saw was a stinky Minke (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minke_Whale)

- Being really, REALLY cold at the end of the day

- Getting totally humpbacked by the humpbacks

Sunday we got up early and went to my church. Unfortunately for us, the service started at 8:30, not 8 like I thought, so we got up 30 minutes earlier than we needed to. More unfortunately, the early service is super traditional...meaning pews and organ music. But the message was still good, and we even got to meet the pastor because Amy knows him and we were there so early. 

Then it was off to the airport, where I bade fairwell to my family. Sad to see them go, but so glad that they were able to come. Hopefully they'll be back next summer for an Orca watching tour, and they'll bring the rest of the fam with them. 

 

It's not all farmer's markets and sunshine...

There are lots of very unpleasant people who ride the bus. Until today, I had observed but never been the object of said unpleasantness. But today, for no discernible reason, an older women sitting across from me called me some not nice names. She was speaking to the man with her, but loudly enough that I know she wanted me to hear and react. They were probably in their late 40's/early 50's, and looked like people who had not found many occasions to be joyful in life. I chose to ignore her and kept reading my book, and she didn't say anything else. After several minutes had gone by, I glanced up at her face as she stared out the window. There was a look of such incredible sorrow there; I could tell that this woman had been battered by the years of her life. Instead of anger or contempt or defensiveness, I felt pity for her. And I also felt thankful that I've been so blessed with the family and life that I've had. And I also felt a little ashamed that all I could do was ignore her. How would God have me respond to such blatant ugliness from a stranger? What words could I have said to her, if any, to 'turn the other cheek'? Thoughts??

Day of Rest

You know what's really heavy? 

Lead.

And for the last three days, I have spent the majority of my workday wearing a lead apron under my sterile scrub attire (to protect my unborn children from extra limbs and such). Getting out of bed in the morning I felt like a ninety-five-year-old with a monkey on my shoulders. Consequently, I was very VERY ready for this day off...and a massage. I didn't get the massage, but I did sleep for ten hours last night. And I've spent quite a relaxing day reading on the roof deck (it's a bit chilly, but the sun has been out off and on), and taking a quick field trip to the post office across the street. I'm trying to take it easy and rest because I seem to be having a little trouble kicking this cold, and my throat started hurting again last night. And I really must be healthy by next weekend because...Jeff and Amie are coming to visit! Soooo exciting!

Work has been going pretty well this week. It is challenging for sure, but as long as I remind myself to stay calm and that mistakes/imperfections are inevitable as I'm learning, it is do-able. It is both mentally and physically exhausting though. For anyone who has ever lived in another country and tried to learn the language, that is the kind of exhaustion I feel at the end of the day. It's like your mind is hyperaware or constantly tensed up (if your mind can be tense...you know what I mean?). As for the physical demands of standing for 8-12 hours (with the added weight of lead if you are in an ortho or spine case)...well, nothing that can't be dealt with by weight lifting and pilates, support hose, and a good pair of shoes.  The scrub person I was with yesterday has a bachelor's in kinesthesiology (sp?) and showed me some weights exercises that will build back/shoulder/upper body strength. I'm also probably going to buy a fitted lead set next time they offer us a discount, because if I get a vest/skirt combo, the weight is more evenly distributed across the hips and shoulders.

I had a dream right before I woke up that there was some kind of apocalypse (economic, perhaps?), and all the survivors were living in a warehouse-y Costco type store, and fighting over the goods. I found a whole rack of chocolate cakes and was standing guard over them with an axe. Weird...

Also experienced a moment of panic this morning when I put my sweatshirt on backwards. There's something about having your face trapped the wrong direction in a hood that is quite traumatic. 

No pictures this time, sorry.

Careful with that scalpel, Dr.

Because I was sick all weekend, and barely got to enjoy any of the beautiful weather, I was quite excited that the weather forecast for today (my day off) was sunny with a high of 78. Dora and I made plans to hang out, and I thought it would be a perfect day to have a picnic lunch on the beach. And then I woke up, and saw that my plans have been thwarted by this:

A giant cloud which has decided to park its fluffy white self right in the middle of my city, on my day off. I hope the sun comes and burns it away.

On a completely unrelated topic, I think I might be a farmer's market addict. I find myself longing to go the farmer's market, even when I don't need fresh and delicious produce and animal products. I love all the people, with their kids and their dogs and their re-usable canvas bags. I love the vendors with their home-made soap and jewelry, their artisan breads and cheeses and wine; even the hippy vendors with their assortment of colorful bongs. It's so reassuring to know there is a farmer's market a mere 6 blocks from my apartment, and that I can go there any Sunday of the year (rain or shine) and pick up some grass fed ground beef or home-made mozzarella cheese should I find myself in need.

Again, unrelated: For a city that is so 'green' and conscious of its carbon footprint, I've found that Seattle seems to have a curious obsession with disposable toilet seat covers. They reside in almost every bathroom that I've been in here, and I can always hear the tell-tale rustle of the tissue paper seat coming from inside the stall next to me. I've always had a strange relationship with toilet seat covers. Part of me does not want to sit where a stranger has sat/peed/who knows what else on the seat before me, but another part absolutely dreads fumbling with the cover (that will inevitably be too small for the seat and fall in before I can sit down) and trying to get the middle part separated from the seat part, usually ripping the whole thing apart accidentally...all with a full bladder. So in the past, my use of these covers has been pretty inconsistent. I don't recall learning about very many diseases which are transmitted by skin-to-toilet seat contact, but I could be wrong. I don't want to be the person who moved to Seattle and got a raging case of scabies because I didn't use a toilet seat cover. So tell me, what's your opinion, toilet seat covers good or bad and why?

Yesterday at work we did a mock surgery. Four of us scrubbed in and set up the back table and draped the 'patient' and performed the 'surgery' while the other four were circulators and got the room and patient ready and handed supplies to the scrub team. Then we switched. The goal of all this was to help us get comfortable with draping, passing instruments, loading blades and needles, and always having 'surgical conscience' and maintaining the sterility of the field and our tables. Well, I was in the circulator group first, and got to be the patient. It was weird, but relaxing. I was just zoning out behind the drape, while my peers stapled drapes around me and sutured my pants. Then we switched and I got to be the surgeon and demand instruments and make stitches in someone else's pants. The nurse who was watching us got very nervous when I picked up the scalpel and pretending to cut. The scalpel was clearly about 4 inches from the 'patient' and she jumped up and said "okay, enough with the scalpel." I guess I should accept that in the eyes of everyone else in the OR I am incompetent until proven otherwise. I will say, I am so SO thankful for the semester I spent in the OR in Saint Louis. At the time, I felt like an idiot who didn't know how to do anything, and was very insecure when I did do things, and moved really slowly because I was thinking SO much about what I doing and was paralyzed by self-doubt (which was quite frustrating for my preceptor). But I see how much that time helped, because now I do have confidence, and I can do things quickly and carefully, and its less annoying to the people trying to teach me.  Funny how I'm surprised when I look back and see that God did know what he was doing, after all.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

- Have you ever noticed the expression on someone's face right before they yawn? It's one of the grossest facial expressions I think I've ever seen, and I can't figure out why I never noticed that before. It's like they've smelled something disgusting, seen something terrifying, and are listening to the worst sound they've ever heard...all at once.

- Rachel's italics = Jeremy's CAPITALS

The Pictures Are Less Exciting When You Work

So, this week I worked four 10-hour days. It wasn't too bad, although the novelty of riding the bus is wearing off a bit. I have joined the legions of headphones-wearing, don't make eye contact with anyone, ignore anything out of the ordinary people on the bus. Because honestly, it's hard to put up with crazy at the end of a long day. 

As you can see, we are still using air mattresses for furniture, and I'm not happy about it. Our couches are now officially 'late' and Kara's mom is supposed to call and find out why/when we will get them. I just want to sit in comfort on a couch...

This is my trash can full of used tissues. My poor, midwestern immune system finally succumbed to one of the many pacific northwest bacteria/viruses, and I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection. That was a self-diagnosis, based on my symptoms of: copious amounts of yellow mucus expelled from my nose, aching teeth, tender lymph nodes, and messed-up ear pressure. I started feeling bad on Wednesday night, but went to work anyway on Thursday and Friday. I apologize to any strangers/co-workers who I may have infected, but it's really too early to get behind in my program.

Pardon the extreme loveliness of sick Rachel whose already generously-sized nose is red and swollen from being blown all night long...but here I am with my first paycheck. Nevermind that it's only from the 1st week of orientation, and all of it will be used on rent/utilities. I have never earned this much money at once, and I'm quite excited for subsequent paychecks (which will be twice as much!). I need to buy a little ledger book and make a budget. And rip up the long list titled Things I Want to Buy Once I Have Money, which I compiled while I was bored one day during orientation.

Leave me comments, please!

Winter has descended upon us

First of all, I want to say thank you for everyone who commented, emailed, texted, sent a card, and/or called to wish me a happy birthday. I felt very loved and special on the 24th anniversary of my birth. I did have to work that day, but came home to Kara, Dora, and Christine jumping out yelling 'happy birthday!' followed by some delicious pizza (from the place on a magnet that was stuck to the side of our fridge when we moved in) and a home-made ice-cream cake. Amy came over after dinner, and we had another slumber party in my room. Altogether a fun night.

So, my first week of 'real' work went pretty well. There are 8 of us in the Periop 101 course. Seven girls, one guy, and I'm the youngest of the group. We all seem to get along well so far. Every day is some combination of: sitting at a computer completing modules for the AORN Periop 101 course (there's a post-test at the end of each module that must be passed with an 80% or better, and we'll have to take a final at the end that we also have to pass with an 80%), and sitting in a small, freezing cold classroom in the basement (next to the morgue!) watching videos that were filmed circa 1980 over the same material we completed the modules on. I guess they are trying to drill the information in through repetition. 

We have two educators who I think of as mama ducks (because the 8 of us trail after them everywhere like ducklings). They are funny and sarcastic and supportive and honest...and I'm excited for what's ahead. They don't sugar-coat things, but they also aren't bitter (unlike many nurses who have lots of experience). I already feel like I could come to them with any problems/concerns/whatever, and it's only been a week. 

On Thursday, one of the educators, D, was off that day, and the other educator, J, got sick and needed to go home. So J arranged for each of us to 'shadow' a different nurse in the OR. She told us sternly not to let them make us 'do' anything because we were just there to observe. Having logged 162 clinical hours in an OR in nursing school where I was able to do things, I was not so happy at the idea of observing for 5 1/2 hours. But it wasn't too bad. Aside from the techno/dance dance revolution type music on the surgeon's playlist (when Castles in the Sky came on, I almost couldn't contain the urge to pseudo-dance along), I really enjoyed being back in an OR. And I got to see them cut out a rib bone...kind of awesome.

So on the bus ride home that day, I made friends with this cute little kid. He had to be about 6 or 7 (or a small 8 or 9), and at first I thought he was alone.  I sat down next to him, and had my cell phone out because I was texting someone. He looks at me, with his little fro and his little thug outfit, and asks, "what kind of phone you got?" We talked for the duration of the 10 minute ride, and I found out that he was actually with his friend Germaine (who appeared to be about 10 and was sitting on the opposite side of the bus), and that he wants to work at McDonald's when he grows up. Probably my favorite part of the conversation was when he asked me how old my mom was ("how old she be?"), and I told him, and his eyes got huge (sorry Mom) and he asked "how she get to be that old?." He was kind of great, and I walked off that bus feeling blessed.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

- I'm pretty sure Seattle has a higher than average proportion of crazy people. Like, walking down the street talking to themselves kind of crazy. And I wonder why.

- Post lunch burping inside a surgical mask is really gross. Really, really gross. Especially if you had a banana at lunch. 

- I was helpfully given an acronym to remember the street names downtown. Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike, and Pine. Those of you coming to visit should try and memorize that, it will be useful.

- The last three days have been cloudy and gray, and I don't feel like throwing myself off the top of a building yet. Hopefully that's a good sign. 

- I think this weekend will include more relaxing than last weekend did. Kara is working all weekend (she's been off since Tuesday), so I will have the place to myself. I'm planning to just be a slug and read some books.

- Found out that I have all holidays off while I'm in the Orientation period, and promptly bought a plane ticket to StL for Thanksgiving. Can't say I'm excited to put up with (and be one of) annoying holiday travelers, but it will be great to see the fam (and Tessa).

- Sorry for the super-excessive use of parenthesis in this post. I will try to do better next time.

Busy Fun Weekend

My title says it all. I find that there's a strange conundrum regarding weekends when you enter the world of the full-time worker...to relax or to play? I guess ideally there would be equal parts of each, but that can be difficult to achieve in practice.

On Saturday, Kara and I slept in till around 9, and it was glorious. We spent some time cleaning the apartment, then I went up to the roof deck to work on my chapters (that I'm almost finished with!). After lunch we headed to Target and a scrub store. That night, Kara was going out for a birthday celebration with a girl we met at orientation who lives by us, and I was planning to hang out with Amy. She caught the bus from her place to mine (it's just one bus ride away, no transfers or anything), and we went out for Thai food at a place in Ballard called Thaiku. We might be Thai food junkies.

Amy and I watched a movie at my place, and tried to stay up and watch SNL (but were bored to sleep...unfortunate that Phelps had some pretty un-funny material with which to showcase his talents). I was able to squeeze a twin air mattress into my bedroom, and we had a slumber party. Poor Amy had three blankets on...because my Seattle air conditioner (aka window fan) brings in down to about 62 degrees at night. But the next morning she said it was a cozy nest, so that was good.

Sunday we got up and went to Bethany Community Church, ab

out a 10 minute drive from my place. I (surprisingly) really enjoyed it. After the service, Amy and I were talking, when somebody behind me exclaimed, "Rachel!" It was my friend Dora's mom. Come to find out, they've been attending the church for 30 years. She told us about a group for healthcare workers and students that is forming up, with the intent of doing some kind of healthcare focused outreach in the community. Amy and I are going to check that out in a couple of weeks. 

After church we went to the Fremont Sunday Market, where lots of vendors sell their craft. I found some very cool stuff, and decided that no one is getting any Christmas presents from a mall this year :)

Here are pictures:

This is a shot of me, Amy, and Kylie from last weekend. Just to prove that they do exist.

This is the canal near the Fremont Market. Amy and I ate slices of stone-oven pizza while sitting on the wall dangling our feet over the side. I really REALLY need to meet someone who has a boat, of any kind.

Entrance to the Market. It's not nearly as crowded/overwhelming as Pike's Place Market.

Me, in the clutches of the troll under the Fremont Bridge. Bonus points to anyone who can name the popular movie containing a scene filmed at the troll.

So the sink in my bathroom had been draining really slowly ever since I moved in. This is what I pulled out of it this morning.