This week, I am thankful:
for the chance to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud
The other day when I was at work, a patient said to me, “I feel better when you come in the room, because you are just so joyful.”
And that made me so happy to hear. Of course, I always do my best to take care of my patients’ physical needs, but I am delighted when I am also able to make a positive impact on how they feel mentally.
Everyone who comes to my hospital floor is experiencing some kind of cloudy day, which means every shift is full of opportunities to be a bit of sun or a rainbow for someone.
And that can look so many ways; sometimes it’s holding someone’s hand, sometimes it’s putting energy into solving a problem, sometimes it’s bringing a warm blanket, sometimes it’s making a joke, sometimes it’s hunting down the food item they really want, and sometimes it’s just doing the regular work of vitals/phone answering/ambulating with a cheerful attitude.
I love my job. 🙂
for my Snoopy badge holder
The nice thing about Snoopy is that he looks good with every color of scrubs. 🙂
for my co-workers
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but after a rather isolated life of being a stay-at-home, work-at-home, homeschooling mom, I am having so. much. fun. being with co-workers.
I love the people who work on my floor! We are such a diverse crew in many ways, and that is part of what I love about my unit.
Have I mentioned that I love my job? 🙂
that I can get started with PT now
You know how I have a little rotator cuff injury? Well, now that my hospital health insurance has kicked in, I can get started with the recommended physical therapy. Yay!
My old insurance had a very high deductible, so I was not about to get started on PT with that insurance because it would have been all out of pocket.
Another yay for my job. 😉
for a little break in the humidity
Humidity has had a chokehold on my part of the world for almost the last two months, but this week, we got a few days with some drier air. AMAZING.
I happened to be off work for one of those days, so I mowed my grass finally. It has been so rainy, I haven’t managed to find a dry day to mow in ages, so my grass was crazy long.
I did get dirty (I don’t know if you can see it very well in the photos but I had dirt and grass all over me!), but I was not unbearably sweaty and that is a mercy.
my freshly-shorn side yard!
for a scholarship coffee gathering
The PEO organization that awarded me some scholarships had a coffee last week that I attended; it was fun to see the other recipients again and to get updated on where everyone is in their educational journeys.
And also, the host lives in a beautiful waterfront community. The view!!
I wore my clearance black dress, which is down to a very low cost per wear at this point. 😉
And of course when I was taking a picture, Chiquita joined me, as she always does.
for a sunset opportunity
It was finally nice for me to want to go to my sunset park; the weather has been so awful most of the summer, I haven’t felt like doing that at all until now.
for Chiquita snuggles
I don’t sit down on the couch a lot, but when I do, Chiquita is SO happy. She always gets on my lap.
And excuse my serious face, but this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it!
Blue Gate Farmgirl
Friday 25th of July 2025
Thankful for this blog. I start my day with Kristen's post and it puts a smile firmly on my face. For my favorite young man about the farm. We are a good team. We are getting huge projects checked off the list! Delicious berries to pick & share. A crisp cabbage harvested and 10 min later was our lunch as Asian cabbage salad. Young man wants to take one to his weekend warrior stint next week (so proud). Harvested some Walla Walla onions and made air fried onion rings and called the neighbors to dinner of onion rings, zucchini noodles, green salad, green salad & watermelon. Cooler weather to help with the Oregon & Washington wildfires.
Lindsey
Thursday 24th of July 2025
1. My biggie this week is that I am thankful for doctors who continue to try and figure out why my hemoglobin is 5.7 despite 15 iron infusions and 4 blood transfusions. Nothing seems to be working and I am getting weaker and weaker, literally by the day. 2. Insurance that has not made a peep about all the tests, infusions, transfusions, constant blood tests to track things. They have paid with no fight, including multiple CT and MRI scans. 3. Hospital ER staff who were so kind when they learned I would be there for at least 7 hours for transfusions, found a recliner for me to sit in rather than the rock hard ER bed. When I asked the doctor why the hell the ER beds are so hard, he said, "We need them to be stiff so if we do CPR the mattress stays very firm. If it were softer, the CPR efforts might not work." Well, shut my mouth. Never again will I complain about something that turns out might be lifesaving for someone else. What else don't I know??? 4. For my little neighbor, who checks in every day now to see if I am well enough to take my wheelchair out to the garden. If I am not, she takes care of making sure things are watered. 5. For the husband, always the husband. Never a word of complaint how many more chores he has to pick up to compensate for me. His chemo is over but he is still tired yet he musters up the energy someplace.
Anita Isaac
Thursday 24th of July 2025
am thankful for you. glad you love your job. my co-workers were pretty awful. so glad i am retired. got botox injected into my right hand and my tremor is much improved. so grateful for that. finally got the mri the nerologist wanted. as i am waitng to go in to change the tv announces a man was sucked into the machine on long island. he was not even supposed to be in the room. i have a piece in my neck and i was not sure if it was metal so i was a bit worried. but thank g-d all went well, and the neurologist said my brain is normal. hubby had a belly laugh at that news. luckily i have a good sense of humor.
Marissa
Thursday 24th of July 2025
That last picture of Chiquita is so precious. My thankfuls this week: - I took at walk in the morning 2 days in a row and got to see the evening primrose in full bloom - The gym in our neighborhood that is well used but functional and clean - A particularly helpful and kind project manager...I think I've been thankful on here for this person before...it's just so amazing how much impact a good PM can have - My husband won a pack of little prizes through the library. One of them was a water bottle bag, which I was very excited about. He was very excited about the mini speaker. We are both having fun writing on the little renewable tablet that was included. - Never thought I'd be grateful for this, but the days are getting perceptibly shorter. It's hard not to feel frantic when my workday starts at 5am and the sun is already blazing. I also feel less FOMO having to go to bed at 6pm if it actually looks like the sun will set soon.
Regina
Thursday 24th of July 2025
SOOO Thankful for the great news my dad is Cancer free (found out Monday & posted Tuesday frugal things post). Thank you to everyone for their kind words. It really does mean a lot. :) Thankful for Air Conditioner!!! Heat dome is back & currently 94* (feels like 104*) here in Michigan. Yesterday was about 5* cooler & tomorrow will be same as today & Sunday 90* even with the storms expected to come through. Thankful for teen & ability to help with lifting & carrying items I struggle with now. My double hernia was hurting badly last night after more than usual physical activity & lifting. Thankful for rescue dogs who are always happy to see us. Though they are not happy they can't go outside for ling as heat is too much for them (even in shade). Thankful my dad is headed to Michigan from Florida today. He should be here by end of weekend. Praying for a safe srive/trip. Thankful that sold few items (& teen also). It's nice to recover a little money from items we no longer need. Thankful for Kristen & her blog where we can learn & share from each other.
Have a great weekend. :)