It's that time of year when people are thankful

Things that are great about my job:

1) I can wear whatever I want, since I change into scrubs when I get to the hospital.

2) I don't have to wash my hair because it lives under a surgical cap all day.

3) Most of the people that I work with are great.

4) I am learning how to do the job that I've wanted for the past few years...and it's very satisfying.

5) I get to walk through the city after I get off work, and on clear days (like today), I can see Mt Ranier in the distance.

Things that are not so great about my job:

1) Moving someone onto or off of the OR table and finding a 'surprise' left behind. Not their fault, but also not fun.

2) Co-workers who are lazy, crazy, bitter, catty, rude, or all of the above. Thankfully there are only a few like this.

3) Patients who have situations that are so tragic that I cannot forget about them when I come home from work. This mostly pertains to the pediatric patients that I have, which thankfully isn't many.

4) I have to walk through the city after I get off work, and on cold & rainy days...I get cold and wet.

Today I was about two blocks from my apartment (with my headphones in my ears but no music playing because it's usually a good deterrent for the crazies...but not today), and this homeless guy walking past holds up a long screw. "This is a metaphor!" he said quite loudly in spite of the fact that he was standing only about two feet away from me (I guess he wanted to make sure I heard him over the music that I appeared to be listening to). "This is a metaphor for what the Republicans did to me for the last 8 years! IT'S A METAPHOR!" he got louder with every word. I said "hmm" and kept walking. Then I enjoyed imagining what my mom would have done if she had been there. I think it's probably better that she wasn't. Just wanted to share that little slice of life in Seattle.

Yesterday I spent a few hours on the beach (along with half the population of the city and their dogs). I passed a baby seal on the sand, and at first I was really sad because it looked like it was dead. But on my way back, there was a crowd of people gathered around it and a park ranger was approaching. He poked at the little guy, and it reared back and tried to bite him. Reminded me sooooo much of a dog. I didn't hear everything the ranger said, but I think the seal was okay...maybe just dozing in the sun? Anyway, I'm glad he was okay, and here are some pictures:

The Olympics. The sight of those snow-capped peaks as I was driving home from church is actually what made me decide to go to the beach. 

A rare stretch of people-free sand.

Harold the Harbor Seal. Does he look dead to you? Cause he's just faking, I promise.

Product Placement Ad

I think living here might have turned me into a wimp regarding the weather. Last night when I got off work it was around 40 degrees, raining pretty steadily, and with a driving wind reminiscent of downtown Chicago. I was cold and wet before I'd walked a half a block...it was the perfect combination of weather elements that render an umbrella completely useless. I felt completely bedraggled and miserable when I got on the bus; the way that a wet dog seems to feel when it looks up at you from the bathtub.

It got me thinking. First, I'm glad that I'm not a homeless person. It must be really terrible for them when the weather is bad. Second, 40 degrees is really not that cold...I have become a West-Coast Mild Weather Wimp.

So earlier this week, I discovered a hair product that actually accomplishes what it claims to do. As someone who has unsuccessfully spent her whole life trying to make fine, straight hair have some kind of volume with a variety of 'volumizing' products...I had pretty much given up hope on changing what my genes gave me. Until I tried this:

And this was the immediate result:

I just looked in the mirror and laughed, then felt the need to document such momentous volume on film. I have to apologize for early morning Rachel who isn't wearing any makeup, and also to assure you that I didn't leave my hair like this.

In five days I'll be back in STL for a visit! There will be three dogs, my baby niece, and of course lots of people who I love. Cannot wait...

Pretty much just Farmer's Markets and Sunshine

After a few days of rain, the promised sunshine has arrived. It’s been mild and lovely this weekend, and the sun is shining. I spent some time refilling my Vitamin D storage cells sitting on the roof, writing this post.

I had a three-day work week because of Veteran’s Day, and I got all my errands out of the way on Tuesday, then spent Thursday morning at the beach. It was pretty cold when the sun ducked behind the clouds, but it was still the beach. Sand, and water, and seals barking off across the bay. It’s nice to have a beach 15 minutes away (even if the water is frigid), but I suspect I”ll feel differently next summer when I’m dreaming of a balmy Florida vacation. The upside is that flights to Hawaii are pretty cheap from Seattle, and the tourism industry there is suffering so badly right now that I could probably get a great deal. The downside being that my family (with assorted babies and dogs) would probably not be able to join me.

Also on Thursday I got my hair cut, and was (as usual) talked into purchasing the products that Richard used on my hair. I’ve realized that I’m sort of a sucker when it comes to things like that. The same character trait (flaw?) that makes it difficult for me to haggle over a price in a foreign country also kicks in whenever I get my hair done. I feel like refusing to buy the product is insulting to the stylist who just made my hair look really fabulous. I should work on that.

Amy and I went walking around Green Lake yesterday. We took some goofy pictures and videos, and watched the parade of people and dogs that passed by (stopping to pet the cutest of dogs, of course).  It’s so great that she lives here and we can do things like that on a regular basis.

Today we went to church (I now look forward to going to church each week!), then I headed to the Farmer's Market. I know I said this post was going to be about work, but I don't like thinking about work when I'm not there...as the tendency to think about it all the time and obsess over everything that happens is too tempting. So maybe next time. Here are pictures:

Introducing...ducks! They were pretty fearless, letting us come within inches before they waddled away, quacking in that disgruntled duck kind of way.

It's not often that you see giant inflatable turkeys on someone's porch, and I felt the need to document it.

Senior picture pose #1...

This was Amy's favorite picture of the entire 'shoot'...I think I look like a doofus, but the colors are nice :)

Senior picture pose #2

Our fellow walkers and some fall foliage. This trail circles the lake and is about 2.5 miles...and on nice days, it almost feels like you're marching in a parade with all the people.

Nature pictures...a giant Christmas tree!

I just really liked this bunch of trees.

Hm...looks like any other lake, but it's special because it's mine.

Couches and Concerts

Our couches finally arrived on Thursday, and my bunda can sit in comfort once again. I'm quite pleased with the way they fit into our apartment, as both Kara and I were worried (since we have a pretty teeny living room). But they fit nicely, and the apartment now has a cozier feel to it (just in time for the holidays!). 

The view when you first enter the room. It no longer looks like we have a third roommate squatting in our living room... a slightly accusatory suggestion made by our suspicious building manager.

The loveseat. That round table back behind it to the right is supposed to live on our patio, but we had to bring everything inside due to the construction.

The couch.  Three people can sit comfortably across it, or one person can lay (but no pants-less sleeping is allowed!)

Here is me, testing the couch for the first time. I give them a comfort score of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. They are certainly not as comfortable as the leather monstrosity couches of my adolescent years, but slightly better than the armless sectional that now resides at 407.

I had another exciting Friday night this week; two in a row...it might be too much for me. After work I decided to try a traveling experiment. Normally, I wait about 20 minutes for a bus that takes me 7 blocks west (down a HUGE hill), then 12 blocks north where I disembark and walk 2 more blocks west to my next bus. On my 12-hour days, I usually leave the hospital around 7:10, get on the first bus around 7:30, and catch the second one at 7:50...putting me home at 8:30. On Friday I decided to walk it. I saw a truly spectacular view of the city at night (I will try and take a picture of it sometime), made it onto my 'second' bus by 7:30, and was home by 8:10...in spite of walking 25 blocks total when I usually walk 3. So, I'm probably going to do that every time from now on.

The reason for the experiment was that I had tickets to see Eric Hutchinson (www.erichutchinson.com), and wanted to get to the High Dive (www.highdiveseattle.com) by 9. Which I did, after driving around in the rain frantically looking for a parking space close to the venue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont,_Seattle,_Washington). 

I eventually got there, met up with Amy, Daniel, and Deb (a friend and former Segue who was in town for a conference), and calmed down during the very mellow opening acts. The place was packed, and it was hot and steamy the way it gets when there's a crowd of people in a small and poorly ventilated space and it's raining outside (sort of like the bus, which one nurse referred to as a Tuberculosis incubator). And there was the freakishly tall group of people standing directly in front of us who kept saying things like, "I hope this Eric Hutchinson guy is good...yeah this guy better be good" and sort of made me want to kick them. Then Eric came on, and he was amazing. A talented, funny, and energetic performer who was really too good for the crowd he was playing for (why is there always at least one drunken d-bag in every crowd?). I'm pretty sure this kid will be very famous one day, and encourage you to check out his album Sounds Like This on iTunes. 

This smudged stamp is the only proof of my being at the show. I forgot my camera :( and don't even have a ticket stub because Amy had my ticket and got there before I did.

Excited for the three-day week ahead. Leave me comments!

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray

I know I've been slacking in my blogging duties, and I apologize. Most of my mental energy is going towards learning right now, and it doesn't leave much for creativity and expression. But I'll try...

Autumn is in full swing here, and there have been some truly spectacular days with blue skies and colorful foliage. But now the skies are grey and rainy, and I expect it to stay that way for the next 6 months. It's kind of weird to me that it can rain sooo much without flooding being an issue, but I guess that's one of the perks of being on the coast (haha, I stick my tongue out at you, midwest). I'm getting used to walking in the rain, and always having a hat and/or umbrella (depending on the force/amount of rain falling), and also being able to gauge whether or not I'll need to wear my rain boots by the sound of rain falling outside (since it's dark when I wake up). 

Here are my rain boots when they were still shiny and new:

Halloween was fun this year. My friend Amy lived in this community house for a couple months when she first moved here; it is huge...I think 10 or 12 people live there at a time. So, they have a costume party every year at Halloween, and charge people $5 at the door and then donate half the proceeds to charity. I wasn't expecting much; maybe a strobe light and some Jack 0'lanterns.  But these people go all out, apparently spend a week decorating the place, and it was awesome (the entrance was a dungeon, then there was a swamp room, and a disco room, even the bathroom was decorated and creepy). And it was packed with people. In spite of the fact that I'd woken up at 4:30 that morning and worked for 12 hours, I had a great time. I didn't take any pictures at the actually party, but everybody came over to our place to get ready, and here's a group shot:

From left to right, back row: Luke (Amy's roommate), Mike (Kara's friend), Brian (Kara's friend), then Daniel (Amy's other roommate). De (Amy's friend visiting from Chicago) and Amy are standing in front of them, then Kara is sitting on the floor. And I was taking the picture.

Here is me, De, and Amy getting ready in my bathroom. A princess, Peter Pan, and some sort of Jazzercising acrobat from the 80's (who ended up winning the dance contest!)

Here is my costume. $15 at a thrift store, with only one stain on the back and a slightly musty odor. I'm thinking it's a leftover from somebody's Renaissance-themed wedding many years ago. It's really too bad you can't see my gold shoes...they pulled the whole look together. 

So Tuesday night was interesting. First of all, on my bus ride home (around 8:20 pm Pacific) the bus driver came on the speaker and said "Ladies and Gentlemen on the bus, the new president of the United States of America is...Barack Obama!" And pandemonium erupted. Everybody started cheering and clapping...it was kind of crazy. Then this homeless guy (who was black) stood up and started raving about how finally his people were finally going to get some respect, and it was about time they started getting some respect. Then this homeless lady (who was white) started telling him how black people don't have it hard, but white people do. I believe she said something along the lines of "you don't have it hard, you don't need respect...we need respect, because everybody calls us racists all the time." It was kind of funny to watch two crazy homeless people have a debate. At least it didn't escalate into violence. And of course they both got off the bus at my stop...15th and Market NW = crazy homeless people capital of seattle.

Then it was like New Year's Eve or something. Fireworks going off, people cheering, and blowing those noisemaker things. They really, really do not like George Bush in this city...and they really, really believe that Barack Obama is going to make things better. Here's hoping they're right.

I'm spending the next few hours waiting for my couches to be delivered and cleaning the apartment...thrilling way to spend my day off. Especially since the construction on our building has begun, and there is constant LOUD noise all around me. I seriously wonder if I could bargain down my rent over this (considering the woman we are renting from never told us that the building would be under construction for the next 9 months). 

My next post will include pictures of the couches, and a list of things I love and things I hate about my job. 

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??