Wednesday, August 24, 2011

pumped up kicks--

tonight is a beautiful night. its gorgeous outside, a beautiful weekend lies just ahead, and for once i kind of feel i am prepared for the evening. working nights has been a fantastic adventure, but still messes with the whole circadium rhythm...

This evening i spent with the one and only Hillary Johnson. I made talbot and mung beans for dinner--i don't know if theres even a reader out there who knows what either of those are ;). There is something to be said when you can for once enjoy the company of a good friend over homemade dinner and sip red wine. Maybe i am growing up and fully coming to appreciate the joys of becoming an adult (well some of it that is-there is that part where the gov't robs you of half your paycheck, but that is to be expected). It has been quite the transition over the past summer though-lots of new things to consider, many new things to learn, schedule adjustment, etc. All part of the "living and learning" process....

I can say its been awhile since i've had the chance to write. I had very good intentions yesterday, but i think i made it out of bed for close to 2 hrs. It was all due to the waterskiing and tubing all weekend up at tuttle lake. boy, its hard to say no to just "one more" lap around the lake, but your body sure does take a beating. probably the most fun full body workout ive done in quite sometime though :) I truly didnt feel bad about laying in bed all freakin day though, it actually felt fairly good. In the thoughts that came across my mind while i laid in bed was how nice it would be to share my house with a furry face. I started to browse petfinder.com (big mistake). there are far too many adorable animals that need some lovin. I was at Home Depot last week and bought myself a cactus. It made me so happy because this little plant was just so cheery looking. I brought him home, named him walter, and decided that if i can keep him alive for the next 6 months- i am ready for a dog. I even googled, "how to keep a cactus alive" and fully succeeded in doing so as of week one. So ultimately my reward for keeping Walter happy is a puppy. SCORE!

I am just 48 hrs shy of hitting the road with Joey to my native roots of the upper peninsula. Its in my blood and i honestly cant spend another weekend away from there. I can't wait to hear the frogs sing while ya sit in front of the campfire with the massive stars above you. Its truly God's country up there.

Alright well i must hit up the shower before i slap on scrubs and prepare myself for yet another night of saving lives.  ya'll out there have a fabulous night and remember to smile as you lie in bed tonight- life's pretty sweet. Also, take a listen to this happy tune, it adds to the ambiance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ&ob=av3e

Monday, August 8, 2011

somtimes i wonder why...

So i am currently relaxing in the dark with the fan blowing and soaking in the cool breeze of the lakefront air-- it may sound like i am just about winding down for the night, but that is not the case at all.  Its my first night shift of saving hearts at St. Luke's. I am not entirely sure how anyone really prepares for this adjustment in their schedule, so i am just jumping head first in, plus its a GREAT excuse to grind and drink coffee at 10pm :)...

Its been both a weekend of good and bad. I finished a 6 day stretch of work days and was so excited to get home on Thurs. night at midnight in time to catch up on the stalking world of facebook and read a bit before flipped over and passed out. I slept amazing- with the thought in mind that the next day was payday and i would be heading north to yooperland with my mom to bike Michigan silly. I woke up, enjoyed a cool shower and attempted to start packing. I went down the block a bit to move my car closer to the Astor Cottege. I opened the front door and looked at the seat and thought to myself, "Why in the world is there glass shards on my front seat?" I then looked at the passenger side window to find a completely smashed in window with a big tangle of cords from my center console. Being oblivious, i just shrugged it off and put a sweat shirt down, sat on the seat, and went to start my car. All the robbers got was a broken GPS--really if you're going to steal, don't make it a 2003 Dodge Neon from a recent college grad, try the jaguar behind me. Plus, i wasn't going to let a smashed window ruin my 4 day weekend. I went to put the keys in the ignition and oh man confusion hit me big time. There was literally NO place to put my keys in. The milwaukee thieves broke my window, tried to hotwire my car,  ripped my ignition to pieces, and stole my GPS. Thats when my naive world came crashing down.

After the waterworks subsided, i called the police. While i waited for them to show up, i called the man who knows best-my fasha. He's always so good at talking me thru anything. The two nicest policemen ever came to my front porch and said, "you must be miss Slattery." I said "every other day of the week yes, but right now i wish not." I went to show them the car and they wrote me the report. I attempted my best the whole time we were out there to have a good attitude and crack jokes cuz that's how i deal with stress best. One of the cops was trying to make small talk and asked me what I did for a living. I told him i was a cardiac nurse in south milwaukee. I never expected the response i got, but he replied with, "Holy shit, you're 22, an RN, and great sense of humor-you're quite the catch. Your husband or boyfriend is pretty lucky." hahaha. I told him, "Yah, i tell him that all the time- You're pretty lucky to be dating the coolest person alive."

I tried to do the responsible thing and put my ducks in a row. I called the insurance company and talked with them for quite some time. The plan after that was to get the car towed and taken to a repair shop.  My mom called and said she's packing her bike to come down to Milwaukee for the weekend. Things started to look up.

She got here and we spent the evening sitting on the front porch drinking wine and eating dinner.  I just adore that woman, she would drop anything to help out.  We biked 30+miles in the humidity on Saturday and made the routine trip to Trader Joe's, and got Thai food.  I was so proud of her b/c on Sunday we went to go see the Hangover II and she thought both I and II were hilarious. This afternoon we spent the entire afternoon strolling the lakefront and enjoying the weather. It was wonderful to be able to hang with the big mama despite the despressing start to the weekend. She's my one mom wolf-pack.

I think more than anything, it was truly a degrading situation because I felt so violated. I didn't do anything to anyone and I still had something not so good happen. On the other hand, it also made me realize how freakin thankful i am that is was just my car and not me. I can't even begin to think how awful it must feel to be an abuse or rape victim. My dad kinda set my straight in terms of thought process when he said, "Well, LJ its only your car, after the health news last year for you, this is nothing." Nicely put Joe Slattery. He's right. In light, I am still pretty dang fortunate to be where I am now. Things could be much much worse. So for that-i will continue to press on the rest of my evening. I also realize what great friends i am blessed with- I told my friend Holly and the first thing she said was, "when do you need me to pick u up for work?" Hillary called me on her way home from a long weekend away to see how things followed up when i saw her on Friday. My roomate has also been a big help. Like i said, a crappy situation that reflects greatness a few days out.

Weekends like this enlighten me-which sounds completely oxymoronic (big words make me sound more intellectual :)!) Why be mopey when it sucks?? Moral of my story.

So for all of you white-collared hooligans who work 1st shift out there just settling down for the evening and attempting to catch some shut eye, I am just about to begin another adventure to the night and save lives in the process (almost like batman- save people by night, hide in the batcave by day). sweet :)

just for some gigggles before bedtime.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWXIelRxyRs