Thankful Thursday | a nurse, not a patient
This week, I am thankful:
that I did not get hurt on the ski trip
I say this because I approach each ski trip with a slight sense of trepidation. I am a pretty good skier, and when the conditions are good and safe, I go FAST (like nearly 60 mph).
I am careful, of course, but at this speed, a wipeout could be rather disastrous. So, I am always grateful to exit a ski trip with my body intact.
WHEW.
Before I left, I told my coworkers about my trip and I said, "I'm gonna try to come back as a nurse and not as a patient!"
And I'm glad I managed that. 😉
for free Wifi on Southwest
This is revolutionary for me! I have never sprung for the paid in-flight WiFi, but now with Southwest's revamped program, I get WiFi for no extra charge. Yay!
That meant I could do homework and write blog posts on the long trip cross-country.
for some warmer air
I'm good on winter now; we had a snowstorm, the snow stuck around for a long time, and I went skiing. I'm satisfied!
Spring can come, as far as I'm concerned. 😉
So, I'm grateful for the much warmer weather we are having now.
Also...March is just a little over a week away! And where I live, things start to feel slightly like spring in March.
that my next oil tank filling will be cheaper
We just came out of SUCH a stretch of unusually cold weather, so my oil tank refill bill was pretty high: $756.*
Next time it will be less!
*the last refill was in mid-December, so at least this wasn't just one month's worth of fuel.
that I can pay the bill without a problem
I am remembering that my first two winters here, I was paying these oil tank bills with difficulty. But then I got divorced and was able to drop my lawyer (ha), and now it is much, much easier to handle a big ol' oil bill.
that we have been warm and cozy
It's been a little expensive, yes, but I am profoundly grateful to have a warm place to live. It's not something to take for granted!
for my shower window
The shower in my condo was in a windowless room, so when I got home, I was freshly reminded how nice it is to have some natural light in the bathroom!
for the recharging power of sleep
I just finished working three shifts, and while I often come home completely exhausted, I am continually amazed at how a good night of sleep recharges me. I go to bed with almost no energy, and then in the morning, I'm ready to get back at it again.
And now I'm heading out to my monthly six-hour new grad class, which is going to involve a lot of sitting.
(Which honestly is its own kind of exhausting! But maybe directly after three shifts, it will be nice.)
My biggest item is that my daughter in law got great news on the results of her pet scan. She is undergoing chemotherapy and her pet scan shows it is really working. I am also thankful for my two granddaughters. The teen-aged one calls us frequentry and her younger sister sends messages through her iPad. So glad they reach out to us on their own. And lastly, we have the most wonderful next-door neighbors. They have become family.
I’m very glad your DIL is having good results with her chemo.
How did you like the assigned seating on Southwest now? Better than open seating? Worse?
Thankfuls:
--That my kids have had a fun time dressing up for spirit week this week. Our school incentivizes it heavily (prizes mostly, but also the FFA teacher takes participation points if her sulky middle/high school students don't make some effort, ha), and we've done pretty well finding things that work for each day. My middle son won yesterday's "tropical tourist" day wearing his older brother's palm-tree-printed swim trunks over his jeans and a paper parrot that he's had since 2nd grade pinned to one of my straw hats. He will now use that award-winning parrot to justify his hoarding to me forevermore. 🙂
--That my husband has started painting with watercolors. A surprisingly useful thing, as well as very fun and relaxing for him. He mostly makes small cards that we send to people for various occasions, but he also painted old white T-shirts with hibiscus flowers for the two boys who didn't have anything to wear for the aforemention tropical spirit day. They thought it was fun to wear something Dad made, and I thought it was fun that I didn't have to make them.
--That the range fire that started on this hellishly windy Tuesday was quickly brought under control. We haven't had nearly enough snow or rain this winter, and almost 40-mile-an-hour winds on dry grass are a very bad thing. That fire jumped the hill and was too close to the village for anyone to be comfortable.
--For the volunteers who come out to fight these fires. They came from up to a hundred miles away.
--For the season of Lent, and the opportunity it gives to settle and re-focus my attention on something greater than myself.
--For discovering a new cocktail that I loved, the French 75. Before Lent, obviously :-). I don't drink much, and when I do it is a single drink, so it has to be a good one. This one was, and I will remember it for future holidays or special occasions.
Whew! Grass firs are nothing to joke about. I'm glad it was contained quickly.
There are some thankfuls this week:
That DS#3's most concerning symptom seems to have ceased (bleeding). Also that his pain is pretty much gone, and that we will be able to start tapering off the steroids on Saturday, because those are nasty and I'm sure they're not making it easy for him to sleep at all. We started a new med this week that will be hopefully taking over once he's done with the steroids.
That DS#3 is on a better emotional keel. They had him on oxycodone for pain in the hospital, and he was still taking some when he came home, but he was encouraged to get off of it, and he's much more stable emotionally. I saw the same thing happen with DS#1 when he weaned off the strong painkillers; emotional lability is rough.
That DS#4 has really stepped up and had a great afternoon keeping DS#3 company, playing video games with him, and talking. DS#3 is not the kind of patient who wants to be left alone, so this meant I could get some things done around the house.
Power outage thankfuls: For generators and a clever DH. Last night our power went out right before dinner. I had the rice cooker ready to go, and there was taco meat keeping warm in the slow cooker. Not to mention the fridges full of food. Luckily DH was home and he is a Problem Solver. First he took one generator, the quieter one, and put it where he could plug in DS#3's Playstation so the boys could keep entertaining themselves. Then that same generator powered the rice cooker--we had to put the cooker outside, so I said I felt like Ma Ingalls on the Kansas prairie, cooking outside. The other generator he put in the backyard and it powered the two fridges and a lamp for light in the kitchen.
When we needed a microwave (for heating up DS#4's quesadilla), DH simply took a small microwave from the garage and plugged it in where the rice cooker had been, and microwaved outside. Brilliant. So we were able to have a nice meal and watch a movie on the playstation with DS#3, and I am also very thankful that the power came back ON at 8 pm before bed, so we didn't have to brush our teeth by flashlight.
I am also thankful that DS#2 seems to be enjoying his new job as a nurse aide; he tells (HIPPA friendly) stories of the residents he's caring for. He was put on the Memory Care unit on the second shift, which is not for the faint of heart due to sundowning, but he's pretty good with the "explorers" (the wandering residents) and already has a favorite co-worker.
I don't think it would bode well if I went hurtling down a hill on skis!
My thankfuls:
1. I motivated myself to get up at six and go to the gym. As well as getting it done early, I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and a quick splash in the sea!
2. I'm going to see a friend after work today.
3. I'm thankful that I had a few days to recharge after my trip to Florence. I'm also thankful for some guests I chatted with who said I'm lovely to talk to 🙂
4. I enjoyed watching Severance which I'd been meaning to check out for a while.
5. I'm kind of done with winter now but I've been enjoying walking on the frozen lakes!
For the knitting "retreat" over the weekend. It was just a bunch of us in a hotel conference room but it was FUN. This was my first chance to get to know some of the group members and I enjoyed the company of every one of them. I feel refreshed.
For a heavily discounted yarn purchase. One other knitter and I were congenially arm-wrestling over some purple silk/merino. She told me about some for sale on Ravelry (the main website community for fiber workers), selling for about 85% *less* than retail.
For better weather in which to walk my dog.
For modern dentistry. 300 years ago I'd've probably lost all my teeth ages ago.
For the steam option in my shower. The shower has two outside walls and gets very cold in the winter. Running the stream for a few minutes is more conservation-minded than running hot water.
Although I am not member of any particular denomination, I value the opportunity Lent brings of "culling excess". Like previous years, I will be doing a digital detox and drastically reducing online presence after work.
Ofcourse I will participate in Thankful Thursday since it focuses on all that is good, uplifting, and kind.
Thankful that
- eldest who will be moving out soon, expresses appreciation and love every day
- eldest is ready and prepared for this move - financially, practically, emotionally
- I was given additional responsibilities at work
- it may still be cold, but the angle of the sun is telling us spring is around the corner
- I have so much more energy now than in December
- I reread some John Donne poetry and as always am blown away.
My thankfuls this week, of course, are all about NDN1 and her upcoming move to assisted living--which will probably be happening early next week. CF, I, and a team of gentlemen from CF's church will be moving NDN1's furniture into the room on Saturday. (Thanks in advance to the gents!)
First, I'm profoundly thankful that NDN1 is, so far, cooperating with all this. She's not happy about the move, of course; who would be? But I'm well aware that she could be resisting a lot harder than she is. And CF, I, and all the neighbors to whom I've broken the news agree that she'll be a lot safer.
Second, I'm thankful that the facility and everyone we've met in it so far are so open and welcoming. One of the two residents with whom we had lunch last Friday saw us in the waiting area on Monday and called out to NDN1, "Are you gonna move in?" When we all said "Yes," she said, "Hooray!"
And third, I'm profoundly thankful for CF. It was through a member of her church whose mother lived at the facility for 5 years that CF found out about it, and CF's been handling the business end of things throughout the process. My role, as it usually is in our pairing, is to be "boots on the ground" here at NDN1's. I've finally finished unloading the family heirloom desk NDN1 wants to take with her (hey, it only took 8 hours), have been doing laundry like a maniac, and have started rounding up toiletries, books, and other belongings.
Glad you had fun skiing and no injuries! 60 mph is fast to not be sitting in a vehicle with a seat belt on!
I'm thankful:
- that my son knew how to fix an issue with our van.
- I've been procrastinating cooking a big ol turkey, but finally did it and now we have plenty of meat for meals to come!
- sunshine
- Coffee
- clean water