Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

When I first starting working as a nurse, an acquaintance at church told me my life sounded like a bed of roses. I don't think anyone's life is a bed of roses. Even celebrities. I mean, what about Tom Hanks getting COVID19? What about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's failed marriage (which I am still, inexplicably, sad about, when I don't even follow Hollywood developments)? What we see of each other's lives is only what they disclose, and it sure is a lot more fun to disclose the happy things than the sad ones. Case in point: I published an article last week in a nursing journal. I immediately shared it. Like I'm in the peak of my career or something. But it has taken me until now to share something that happened 2 weeks ago [the week before I shared news of the article]. I was laid off. Looking back, I can see a perfect alignment of coincidences that led to that moment. Finding my feet as a new nurse practitioner--> waiting for paperwork that would le...

I sense I'm not alone in this, but I am struggling for motivation to do things during quarantine. Part of the problem is of course that there is less to do (can't go see museums, or travel to Virginia Beach to eat kolaches, or wander around a mall), but now that I technically have the time to read a bunch of books, instead I stare out the window and scroll through pointless "news" stories. Which means...time to think of the good things in life! now that we have a treadmill, I can watch a movie while "exercising" neither me nor my husband is sick I'm not furloughed or fired from my job, which means we still have income the pandemic hasn't diminished Mark's and my enjoyment of playing the game Pandemic we have lots of different movies available to us we live in a pretty area people in our area are, from what I can tell, taking the pandemic seriously when I couldn't find any paper towels locally, my mom shipped me some even when I...

[Writer's Note: I realize that purchasing exercise equipment, in addition to having a job, is a luxury right now. If you get annoyed, skip this post.] Near the beginning of March, Mark and I walked 30 feet to access our apartment gym--to find out that it was locked. This was before everything was closed, so we weren't sure if it was on purpose or if it was a mechanical error. Either way, we couldn't get in, which means I couldn't bike recumbent, and Mark couldn't improve his mile-time on the treadmill. We've been taking walks through different neighborhoods, and have discovered what a beautiful area we have tucked behind retail and construction zones...but it doesn't much help our hopes to get-in-shape. We could, of course, do what most people have done for centuries and run outside , but at this point in the stay-at-home saga, we are rather low on self-discipline. It's easier to keep our butts moving if the ground (aka treadmill track) beneath us ...

I am becoming increasingly stressed from COVID-19's impact on my work and on my personal life. I'm guessing everyone is feeling something like it. That little strand of RNA is turning the whole wide world upside-down. So galling. Therefore, to make me feel better, I am going to think of some of the best things I have received. 2-headed shower thing with hose--hose shower sprayers are amazing. it makes rinsing so easy, and I love that I can hold the sprayer away from me until the water warms up a bit microwave popcorn bowl--makes your own popcorn in the microwave. cheaper and healthier than buying packets of microwave popcorn, and way easier than an air-popper. I especially like how I can add the seasoning to the popcorn before popping it in the microwave for better distribution of flavor electric washable blanket--I get cold. this blanket gets me warm. what else is there to say onion goggles--my eyes are very sensitive to onion fumes, but I love the taste of onions. it...

I don't know why, but I imagine a Minnesota accent when I ruminate on the pronunciation of hockey. I'm not from Minnesota, and as far as I know I've never been to Minnesota, but that doesn't stop me from hearing the northern dialect in my head. I got into watching hockey when I started dating Mark, because he idolizes the Pittsburgh Penguins. If I'm claiming to be into any sport, the best bet is hockey. I enjoy following the Penguins team with Mark, but that doesn't mean we see the same things. Mark will be following the puck turnover closely, and then I'll pipe up, "Oh, look, some Asian companies are advertised on the rink's perimeter. I didn't know Asia was into hockey." Or he'll be listening to media interviews of the coach, and I'll mention, "Wow, did you see his tie? Super classy." ---- Yesterday, I heard about the miracle-on-ice scenario of an emergency backup goalie helping score a win against his "home ...

I believe I've hinted at this before, but I chose to have surgery on my spine again. Anatomic reason: having a herniated disc meant that the original disc between L5-S1 [lower back] vertebrae is shorter, and contributed to further degeneration in the area. Physiologic reason: it hurt. Last week I had a spinal fusion from the front [technical name ALIF]. I had originally thought my L5-S1 vertebrae would be stabilized with titanium, so prior to surgery I mentally-played Titanium : " You shoot me down but I won't fall/  I am titanium " Turns out my surgeon used synthetic bone graft instead. Well...whatever. Glad I didn't make any T-shirts with that phrase. Me without eyebrows I was kept overnight (maybe for pain control? they had me on a ketamine drip), and because inpatient hospital procedure schedules are dumb, Radiology sent a wheelchair to take me to my xray at 3am. I got out of it by having shaking, nausea, and lightheadedness once standing. Don...

To get to and from work, I take the metro, then a shuttle bus, then I walk through the university campus to the hospital [and the reverse of that to get home] . Sometimes the shuttle bus isn't immediately there, so when it's windy and cold I wait in the lobby of some gymnasium building where I can keep an eye on the bus stop but not freeze while doing so. Recently, while waiting for the bus, I noticed there were several manikins in school-color uniforms. And I realized, without having to look too closely, that the female manikin in field-hockey garb was wearing a sports bra underneath her jersey. I gotta wonder what made that particular outcome occur. A few days after that, I killed some time looking at the sport trophies of the university: track and field, cross-country, field hockey, soccer, and basketball. Each one had a small figure in relief, matching the action and gender of the associated trophy; for example, a girl running on the "Cross-Country" cup, or a...