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Monday, August 30, 2010

here fishy fishy fishy fishy

I think I have asked for a dog (particularly a yellow lab that I could name Dexter and knit fuzzy sweaters for and bathe in BedHeads awesome line of doggie shampoos!) every day of this past eleven months. Apparently "dogs deserve yards" and are not conducive "to living in an apartment"... or "shift work". "Puppies are more work than children". "Worst. idea. ever." "Whose going to take care of it while you run off to LA every other month?" "Besides, who would walk it in the winter when you won't even go outside?" Needless-to-say, I'm still man's-best-friend-less. =)

I spent seven months ... aka all of winter... with my eyes pealed hoping I would find a tiny kitten frozen somewhere outside in dire need of a warm apartment that I would just have to take in. I guess I should have spent more time outdoors because I never found her.

I watched two itty bitty baby ducks paddle in circles at the lake the other morning certain they had accidentally floated away from their mother and would now be eaten by a bear and die. Evidently, I had only convinced myself that they needed to be rescued because no amount of whining would compel Mitch to set down Harry Potter, get up from his lawn chair and "go save them!" I waited for what felt like 14 back-to-back screening of Eat, Pray, Love (Read: an eternity) for them to swim close enough to shore so that I could catch Jack & Jill (I even picked out their names waiting on the dock) but they kept their safe five foot distance and my abhorrence for lake water impeded me from jumping in to "go save them!!" myself.

I've tried numerous times to catch and domesticate the wild rabbits that (0ver)populate my neighbourhood in hopes of eating the produce in the many gardens of the homegrown-crazy Ukrainians' up here but unless you carry a head of lettuce in your back pocket, they ain't hoppin' anywhere near you.

In a brief moment of total desperation and consequent lapse of judgment that usually accompanies said ennui, I even considered buying a pet hermit crab with a uniquely? painted shell at the mall the other day. Thankfully, rationality returned before I could locate my debit card and common sense safely talked me out of that one.

My relentless pursuits to be given the opportunity to "be the person her dog thinks she is" or "become that crazy cat lady" will not cease. I still have a burning desire to cosset and coddle something furry, something fluffy, something with a tail but until that victorious day comes, I have added a virtual fish tank to the bottom of my blog. Feeding them electronic fish food flakes with the click of my mouse will have to suffice until I win this war on pethood.

Monday, August 16, 2010

{mitchell's} sick-isms.

It's amazingly endearing (in a way) how much being sick reduces men in to little boys. When Mitch texted me today to say that he was going home from work vomiting, I immediately thought " I knew I should just stay out of the kitchen!" I attempted to make dinner last night for the very first time in our co-habitance history (eggplant parmesan for those foodies out there) and strangely enough, Mitch wakes up the next day with a stomach flu. Coincidence? I thought not until I found out... everyone is sick. We stayed at Mitch's aunt's house this weekend and it seems a stomach bug is rapidly sweeping thru the family ... So far, I feel like a peach and I hope it stays that way as I started my first of four shifts today and don't want to spread it thru my unit. After working 12 hours, I returned home (after stopping to get electrolytes) to a super sick, febrile, couch-ridden Mitch, puke bucket in hand, ready to start my next shift with my live-in patient. I'm not used to having patients that can talk and it was quite entertaining the "sick-isms" that were leaving his mouth:

I have H1N1. I saw it on Jeopardy.

I might be dying!! You don't know that...

Will you rub my feet?

Your eyes look stunning.

I have nightmares when I'm sick (about what?) ... about fevers. ..... Stop laughing at me.

You have a very voluptuous left breast.

I have a heart beat in my chest. I hope it's not cancer.

You look beautiful.

Can you read me Harry Potter?

You look like Jennifer Aniston right now. Go look.

Can you make me a piece of bread? With butter? & Honey? (Butter? Not peanut butter?) I just don't know what peanut butter will do to me. It may coat my intestines...


I'm actually kinda sad he went to bed at 9:30. It was kinda entertaining taking care of "sick Mitch" and I'm not really looking forward to sleeping on the futon tonight.

Monday, August 09, 2010

open the eyes of my heart.

I've made the decision to go back to school to get my masters to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner next fall. It's a daunting task researching and applying to grad programs. It's a wee bit overwhelming obtaining all the required documents and I've spent the last couple of weeks studying the GRE, contacting colleagues for references and writing a rough draft for my personal statement in my spare time. I've been at a loss for words as to how to summarize why I have chosen to specialize in neonatalogy but as I watch this video of Christopher, I am reminded of all the reasons I have wanted to pursue this career for nearly a decade! If only I could submit this video to the admissions board, I'd be sure to be accepted.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

tis' the season.

Having only permanently resided in two places (Florida and California) where it is only one magnificent season year round (the best season, summer!), I never really had an appreciation for what 'the four seasons' were until I moved to a place that experiences all seasons... to the extreme. Arriving in Winnipeg right at the end of fall, the leaves on the trees had already died and fallen off. Winter (October-April... none of that three months of each banter, it is by far the longest of the seasons up here!) came roaring in with a bone-chilling entrance 3 days after I arrived and continued to leave me frost bitten and shivering until about April when the snow melted and spring came... the typical April showers characteristic of spring lasted until about mid-July torrentially down pouring on everything and eventually all the brown slush and barren trees turned in to a lush green. My favourite part of spring was all the mama animals having their babies. I can't tell you how many families of geese and goslings I made Mitch pull over to watch waddle in to their respective ponds. But I am happy to report it's one week in to August and summer is officially here!!! I've been soaking up every unit of Vitamin D I can get and if it was physiologically possible, I would be storing up for the impending doom that is winter to fend off another case of seasonal affect disorder. Winnipeg really comes to life in the summer [No, Grams you don't need to strengthen your glasses Rx, I did just say something positive about Manitoba! =)] All winter I wondered why everyone I work with wasn't taking their allotted holidays during the most frigid temps to escape to somewhere warm (like LA!) & that the most senior of staff wait until August to take their coveted vacation time ... now I know why! There's different festivals almost every week (although, we often find out about them after they happen!) The weather is perfect: no humidity compared to what I grew up in, cools off at night, not a cloud in the big blue skies. Sun doesn't set until 10:00 or 11:00 so the days feel endless! Everyone has a cabin on one of the 10,000 lakes that they can escape to. I have been fortunate to have almost every weekend off in late June/July/August and while I have no proof on film, Mitch and I have been lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the time off/cooperating weather. Now if only I could tilt the Earth so that was summer all year round, I might actually learn to like this place.