Oh hey, I'm responding to comments

I often do not get into the comments as much as I'd like, especially when I'm working several days in a row (I feel it would be in poor taste to be chatting with you all during a hospital shift!).

Soo, here's a collection of questions I missed, along with my answers.

Kristen, will you still qualify for paid medical benefits when your hours drop? Where I worked 30+ hours a week was full time for paid benefits.

Yep! One of the main benefits of my job is, well, the medical benefits. And luckily, we do indeed still have access to paid benefits when we are working part-time, which is two shifts per week instead of three.

I think there might be a change in how much the hospital contributes when you switch to part-time, but I am not positive, and honestly, I do not care at this point.

I love my job, and I love the work I do, but my work/life balance right now is just crap. I do not want to maintain full-time nursing hours while I'm trying to finish up my degree!

I will see how I feel after I graduate, and I will consider working more shifts then, but until graduation, absolutely NOT. Nope, nope, nope.

(Obviously, I am also maintaining a blog by myself, which requires a not-insignificant number of hours each week.)

Do you have a recipe for your egg bites? Mine don’t seem to hold their form very well.

Yes! I use this recipe from Once Upon a Chef, but I use cheddar instead of Gruyere (just because I have it around more often!), and I use more hot sauce than she specifies.

I also usually use a little less bacon, since bacon is not exactly a health food. 😉

I eat three of them before work, along with a piece of toasted Dave's Killer bread (the Aldi version, tho), and some fruit.

I often don't take my lunch break until 2:00 pm, so I need a breakfast that sticks with me pretty well!

Regarding the overthinking, have you ever encountered the Four Tendencies framework, by Gretchen Rubin? There’s a free quiz, and lots of interesting reading. If you didn’t come out as an Upholder, I would be astonished.

Yes! I do remember taking this quiz, and I am quite sure my results said Upholder.

This quote from Gretchen perfectly explains my work and school experiences:

As an Upholder, I’ve found, often rules are stated overly strictly, because the people issuing the rules know that most people tend to bend them a bit. I need to remind myself of that! Is this a rule that’s meant to be taken literally? Or is it okay to assume a bit of flexibility? Am I interpreting the rule too strictly or too literally?

I'm always over here trying to dot all my i's and cross all my t's, making a good-faith effort to actually meet every expectation, and it does not occur to me that it is possibly just fine to do less.

And I find it extra hard to fathom that I'm not actually expected to meet all of these expectations.

This is why I am forever emailing my professors to ask questions, because I read the instructions so carefully, find them unclear, and then feel like I need to ask clarifying questions so that I don't do the assignment wrong!

(And I do maintain that if they would prefer to receive fewer emails from me, THEY SHOULD WRITE CLEARER INSTRUCTIONS. 😉 )

You sound a bit irked these posts. I can almost see everything swirling around in your brain. I understand. Just curious, once school is done will you work more than two days a week? Is this typical in your area of work?

from the "boo-hiss!" post

Hahaha, well, that's because I am kinda irked about school problems. And I'm tired.

Lisey called the other day, and she was like, "Mom, I can feel the burnout through the phone." Ha.

It is true; I am feeling crispy, but I am hopeful that I will feel better once I go down to two shifts a week.

As I said above, once I graduate, I can always pick up more shifts if I want to, but I don't know if I will.

Is part-time normal? Well, I do have a number of co-workers who are part-time; there are all sorts of variations in how nursing schedules look!

Also, there's a weekend contract some people do; you work every single weekend (so two shifts a week), but you get paid for three shifts. So, that's part-time work for full-time pay, and it works great for parents whose partner has a Monday-Friday job.

I have my blog, though, which is a part-time job, so I will be financially fine working my two part-time jobs after I graduate. 🙂

Do you think you'll take on more rehab projects once nursing school is over? You really are good at making things beautiful.

Aww, thank you! I do sometimes feel a little bit sad that this phase of life is so busy because I have almost no time for optional activities.

I get the basics done (eat, work, sleep, do schoolwork, blog, cook), but I rarely have time to do a project, cook something just for fun, or go on a leisurely exploration of a new trail or park.

So, yes, once I graduate, I am very hopeful that I will have time for projects!

Right now, when I see a furniture piece begging for a rehab (like on Facebook), I have to be firm with myself and be like, "Not right now! We don't have time!" Ha.

I actually saw a chest like this recently on Facebook for free and I REALLY wanted to pick it up. But I know something like that will be out there again when I graduate.

One day, I will have free time again!

If I missed a question from you, let me know. Or if you have one you want to ask, drop it in the comments and I'll add it to the next question roundup. 🙂

P.S. If you want to see a lot more before and after pictures of that chest, click here.