The best laid plans of mice and men...

Well, last month my post was all about my new-month-resolution to exercise regularly every week. Here's a status report. I stuck to my goals faithfully for about 3 weeks. Even when I had the sniffles and a sore throat from allergies and was tired from work, I managed to get in at least 3 work-outs a week, sometimes waking up crazy early and going running before a 12-hour shift in the ER. Then I started getting more and more tired at work, and my sore throat dragged on and on with no sign of improvement. On May 26 I kissed my darling husband goodbye as he flew away to China for a week and a half, and while he was gone I finally gave in and went to the doctor. I hate going to the doctor. I'm much better at telling other people to go to the doctor than I am at actually going myself. It was a good thing I went though, cause it turns out that what I thought was allergies was actually infectious mononucleosis. Which i'd probably had incubating in my system during my strenuous work-outs the weeks before. So, while Pat was gone, instead of work extra shifts and go running every day like I'd planned, I stayed in bed, watched movies, read books, and lay out by the pool, trying to recover. Mono can take several weeks or even months to get over, so I'm afraid my exercise goals have been put on hold for now. *sigh* Oh well. Write your plans in pencil, and make sure you have a good eraser. I'm going to get back to my reading now.

A May Resolution

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions. They just seem doomed to failure for me. But I recently decided that it's time for me to get in shape, and I think I can hand a few New Month Resolutions, it happening to be the beginning of May and all. So, I hereby resolve to work out 3 days a week, every week this month. I can handle that, right? Not too terribly intimidating of a resolution. Maybe I should use the word "goal" instead of "resolution." But no, that seems too much like a good intention that's not really going to happen. Better stick with "resolution."

Yesterday morning, after walking Madi down the road to school, I made my way to the convenient "hike-n-bike" trail that parallels the road we live off of. That is something nice about where we live - lots of parks and running trails. No need to spend money on a gym membership. As soon as I broke into a run, my entire body started protesting. I could almost hear the alveoli in my lungs and muscle fibers in my legs screaming at me "Noooo!!! What are you THINKING?! This is so wrong! Get back on the couch where you belong, and eat ice cream instead!" It was a challenge, but I ignored their persuasive voices and managed to go about 2 miles. Granted, I probably only ran for less than half of it, and by "run" I really mean "pathetic little survival shuffle," but it brought my heart rate up nonetheless, which is what I was going for. Then I went home and ate ice cream.

Day 2 was also a success. Of course a cold front blew in over night, and it was about 50 degrees with 500-mile-an-hour winds this morning, but I was determined. This time my friend Jessica joined me, and we walked very briskly for about 2.8 miles, according to the pedometer app on my phone. After that I walked to my dentist appointment down the road, then walked home, and then ate ice cream. I think Haagen-Dazs will be my downfall. But the dentist said my teeth look great!

In other news, we went tadpole-hunting at the park yesterday evening. Madi caught one with her bare hands. But I think it turned out to be a minnow, not a tadpole. He now lives in a bowl on her dresser. I guess we should think up a name for him. Any suggestions?

Orange peels, borax, and whatnot

I've been making my own laundry detergent for about 5 years now. It's a fun way to save money, easy to make, and doesn't hurt the environment. I once saw a baby have to be intubated in the ER after swallowing one of those colorful packets of concentrated laundry detergent, and I was even more convinced that homemade is better. Here's my recipe, if anyone's interested in trying it.

A few weeks ago, I finally joined the Pinterest bandwagon and started searching more do-it-yourself recipes for household items. I'm slowly eliminating dangerous and costly chemicals from underneath my sink. To be honest, I'm really just a DIY nerd and think this kind of stuff is fun :-)  I grew up using store-bought detergent and chemicals, and I'm still alive. But it is fun to make things yourself, and saves money too.

This is an easy all-purpose cleaner that costs about a dollar to make. Fill a jar with citrus peels. I used orange peel, but I'm sure lemon or lime or grapefruit peel would work too. Then add enough white vinegar to cover the peels. Let the jar sit for 2-4 weeks, and it's ready to use! I waited 4 weeks. Be sure to get a cute spray bottle to put it in. I just started using mine, and it seems to work pretty well for counters and sinks.

Next I looked up a bunch of recipes for dishwasher detergent. I've been hesitant to try this, for fear of leaving streaks on my dishes, but lately my store-bought Cascade hasn't been doing a very good job - maybe it has something to do with our water, I'm not sure. But I thought I might as well try to make some. Here's the recipe I used, along with where in the store to find the ingredients:

1 cup borax (laundry aisle)

1/2 cup washing soda (laundry aisle)

1/2 cup baking soda (baking aisle)

1/4 cup kosher salt (baking aisle - sea salt would probably work too)

1/4 cup citric acid (with the canning stuff - I read that Fruit Fresh also works)

Use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I also put a couple tablespoons of white vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher, to help rinse.

Does anyone have any other do-it-yourself recipes for household items? Glass cleaner? Liquid dish soap? Let me know what works for you! I'm a big fan of easy recipes, with cheap ingredients :)

What made my day

Madi: "I'm just glad you and Daddy got married."

Me: "And why is that?"

Madi: "Because you're the best step-mom ever."

:-)

A New Job for a New Year

Once upon a time, I had ambitions to become a professional writer. This dream was partly inspired by my admiration for Jo March in Little Women. I took a few English classes in high school and soon came to the decision that making my living off of the written word was not the best plan for my future. Obviously that was a good decision, considering that I can't even keep up with this one silly little blog. I'll keep trying though, if I have any readers left after my 6-month silence.

The career path I chose after giving up on writing has kept me pretty busy lately. Shortly after our "real" honeymoon, I started a job at the brand-new Seton Medical Center Harker Heights. This hospital caused a bit of a sensation here in Bell county, since there's not much diversity in healthcare options. My first job as a nurse 5 years ago was at Seton's main location in Austin. I loved it there, so was very excited when they began building a location in Harker Heights, about 25 minutes away from Temple. In nursing school, my senior year preceptorship was in a Level 1 trauma center emergency department in downtown Dayton, Ohio. That first taste of emergency medicine never got out of my system, and I've been wanting to gain some ER experience ever since. However, my desire to travel has kept me doing floor nursing for the past 5 years, alternating between cardiac/telemetry and medical/surgical. When I first interviewed at Seton Harker Heights, I really wanted to get a job in the ER. Since I didn't have any previous experience, they advised me to get a job on med/surg, and then transfer to the ER after the hospital had been up and running for a few months. So that's what I did. I started working on med/surg in June, and by August I was cross-training in the ER and loving it. After several emails back and forth with the ER director and HR department, and months of waiting for a day shift position to open up, I finally got to transfer full-time! I started in January, and it was a great way to begin the new year. I'm the first nurse they've hired who doesn't have previous ER experience, so they're giving me a longer orientation, providing education material to help me learn more about emergency nursing, and setting up days for me to shadow in ICU and Respiratory Therapy. I had been starting to feel a little stagnant doing floor nursing, and it has been so refreshing to learn new things! Here are some highlights of my new job:

* Every day is different. You never know who is going to walk in the door, or be rolled in on a stretcher. It can be slow and quiet for a few hours, and then in a matter of minutes every room in the department is full - including the waiting room. Definitely keeps you on your toes. Boredom? What's that?
* Teamwork. Everyone in the department seems to work really well together, and helps each other out. I can be busy with a more complicated patient for awhile, and then come out of the room to find that a coworker has given meds to another of my patients, or done the paperwork on someone who I needed to discharge. My new coworkers are also very encouraging, and explain things to me whenever I have questions or need help.
* I'm getting lots of practice starting IV's and drawing blood.
* Lunch! One of the nurses starts her shift at 11 AM, and relieves everyone else for their lunch breaks before she takes her own patients. This is a fabulous system. Too many nurses in the world skip meals.
* In general, I've been enjoying working in a smaller hospital. It feels more like a family than a big machine. Walking through the halls, I know or at least recognize almost everyone I pass by - nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, pharmacy techs, chaplains, phlebotomists... and they recognize me. Actually, they've come to recognize the sound of my shoes. My comfy Dansko clogs are so loud, it's ridiculous. It's kind of embarrassing to walk up to the nurses station and overhear someone say "what is that sound?!" And someone else says, without even turning around to see if it's me, "Oh, it's just Ruth's squeaky shoes." Oh well - I'm too stubborn to buy new shoes. I'm not going through the hassle of breaking in a new pair!

A downside to my new job is all the germs that have attacked my poor little immune system. It's common for a nurse to get sick a lot during her first year in the ER, and apparently I am no exception. I've been sniffling, sneezing, and coughing for pretty much a month straight. I've consumed a ridiculous amount of cough drops and vitamin C, and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I'm finally on the mend.

I'll try to be a better blogger after this. No promises, though. I was going to make a new-year resolution to blog at least once a month, but I can't even do that since I missed January. Oh well. Instead, my 2013 resolution is to become the best emergency room nurse that I can be. And to read Les Miserables.