Good thing I weigh more than Dorothy and the dogs weigh more than Toto

HOLY. CRAP. IT. IS. WINDY. I can’t express it enough, this wind it out of control. Here is my literature painting of what it is like:

· I feel like I’m stepping outside on a beach except that it is 11 degrees and instead of grains of sand blowing across the street/parking lot, it is a snowy-icy mixture

· The pumpkins from Halloween are literally bouncing against the door right now and Mimi is going crazy thinking someone is trying to break in

· When I came home this afternoon, the big green garbage bins had taken flight and were now in the neighbor’s driveway and my neighbor’s was in my front walkway. I would have hated to have a vehicle in the way, definitely would have caused some damage

· I found a shingle in the backyard

· Windburn hurts just like sunburn but doesn’t last as long or peel (as of yet, I was only outside for 5 minutes coaxing the dogs to pee)

· The sounds the wind makes blowing thru the screens on the windows and creaking thru the trees rival some of the best special effects features in scary/horror movies

· I get heart palpitations and borderline hyperventilate from the cold being blasted into m at 30-40 mph for less that 45 seconds as I (cautiously) run to my car

· Last but not least, having a legit fear of getting knocked out by my Jeep door when I open it in the parking lot

Gigantic pile of snow in the PetSmart parking lot, I kinda wanted to run into it

Enough of that, it’s making me shiver just thinking about it. I finally joined a gym! I went with the fancy one per my mom’s request. She thinks I will use it more if there are more bells and whistles to entice me. I’ve gone every day I haven’t been working, granted one time was to do a fitness evaluation and one was to get a massage. I didn’t learn anything from the fitness eval, but it was one of those things they make you do. It was nice to get my measurements and have a starting point to track my (fingers crossed) progress. Hoping to keep going and see some goals met.

Massage Therapist made a toga for me! i felt like a cherub babe

I went out in Anchorage a few Saturday’s ago with a new friend, Kathleen, that I’ve gotten to know thru Jeff and Matthew. She took me to a story telling event which was very interesting. It was called Arctic Entries; they have 7 people tell stories 7 minutes long around a central theme. They have them every month and seem to have quite a following- the house was packed. Then we went to eat at a restaurant called Snow Goose (cute, right?) and had my first Alaskan Caesar salad. It was very good, but I think I’d rather have chicken instead of fish in my salad.

Kathleen with our very romantic nook to eat dinner and discuss the stories told

First Alaskan Salmon Ceasar Salad. yum.

My last day of orientation is tomorrow! Always a scary thing, but I think I’m ready. Will be nice to get into my own routine with how things flow there. We had our monthly staff meeting last night (this is my second) and they had pot lock so that always makes a staff meeting worth it. I’m starting to get to know more people and have them get to know me. Being able to joke around and cut up makes the shift go by quicker that’s for sure.

I’ve been missing 9100 this past week. Not so much the yellow contact gowns and white furry eyebrows, but the people I worked with and the patients I cared of. Not sure what has set it off, but I miss all the inappropriate comments, jokes, and situations we seemed to get ourselves into. All the laughs, tears, Oprah and Dr. Phil moments at 3am are memories I think about and smile often. I know that experience and environment can never be replaced, but I hope to find some new interesting nurses to get into some trouble with. PS The Occupational Health nurse at my hospital used to work in 9100 at Duke about 10 years ago, had the same manager as me and knew some of the same people. Freaky!!!

dont make me go out there in the wind.

please dont make me.

my manicure to prepare for my birthday!!