Saturday, September 12, 2015

Life in Bullet Points


  • COLD FRONT!!!!!!! Right now it is 68 degrees with 65% humidity :D And tomorrow the high is 82!! With the lows in the low 50s with sunny skies, breezy and low humidity! AND it's the first Saints game of the season that isn't preseason. FALL YOU GUYS!!!!! Can you tell I get a little bit giddy when I get the first taste of fall? It's amazing what a little bit of relief from the heat can do for me...that's all I ask...for it not to feel like the devil's asshole all of the time. I was slammed at work today and I kept a smile on my face all day, partly because of the weather. The best part of it all? The 10 day forecast currently doesn't have ANY 90 degree temps anywhere in site. Which gives me hope that the worst of it is officially over! Made it through another summer :p 
  • Megan sent me this picture today and I laughed my ass off. I also wish that I could be that skinny again :p Ah, the goth days, how I miss thee. Yes, that's a fishnet shirt with a black velour shirt over it and yes I have eyeliner on.
  • I discovered this live version of Joanna Newsom performing Peach, Plum, Pear from 2006 this week and I've probably watched/listened to it 20 times. It's one of the best live performances I think I've ever seen! I swear I love her so much. That harp solo at the end is just so amazing and so beautiful. And to think that I once said that I couldn't stand her :/ I cannot WAIT for her new album in October!! And I'm so hoping that she comes back here again...seeing her during her last tour was one of the best shows I've ever been to. So jealous of Ana who's getting to see her during the first leg of the tour :p 
  • Dad's biopsy is Tuesday. So many mixed up emotions with that. Part of me is so anxious for it to be over with and wishes that it would've been done a month ago and I hate that treatment has been put off this long and that we still don't know what we're dealing with. The other part of me is terrified of what they will find and what the result will be and the reality that I'll have to face once the biopsy is done. I just have to not get ahead of myself right now.
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  • Oddly enough, I find myself somewhat enjoying work lately....a statement I NEVER thought I would hear come out of my mouth. At least not while I'm at my current place of work. Nothing has changed there except for me. And I feel like I could write a book, really, on what has changed. The essential change that it boils down to though is that I've allowed myself to connect again with the patients I work with and I've made an effort to disconnect with the drama of the workplace. Or maybe it's that I stopped making the effort to connect with the drama. I don't know which it is really. Since my dad's diagnosis I've had a realization that life is too short to focus on bullshit. I think the medication change that my psychiatrist did has helped a lot too. But it's been nice to find passion in my work again. I don't want to pretend that I don't have my frustrating times still. And I still want to get out of there and eventually get to just private practice...that's my true passion. But at least things have been more tolerable. 
  • Having said that, I need to get back to doing more things for myself. I was thinking about that last night. I rarely get to read anymore. I don't do simple, little things like play games on my iPhone that I used to enjoy. I haven't gotten to garden much recently. I haven't been walking in a long time. I haven't taken a good, long, hot bath with a book in over a month. I haven't had a massage in a long time. I could go on. Lately, I work, I come home, and I lay on my sofa and catch up on my DVR. Which is fine...I enjoy all of the shows I've been watching. But I miss all of those other things. TV is not a life. I need to get back to life again.
  • I have been listening to an audiobook that I'm SO in love with! The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks. I wanted to finally read something of his when I heard he passed away, which was so sad :( I had read a few of his essays over the years, but I still haven't read any of his books despite owning most of them. He's one of those authors that I just knew I'd love even though I'd never read him, so I've collected most of his books :p Sure enough, I'm loving this book. I've always been fascinated by the brain. My favorite classes in college were my neuropsych classes. One of my best friends at work is a doctor who is a psychiatrist who specializes in neuropsychiatry. I LOVE hearing her talk about some of her patients and the way the brain works. Anyway, this book has been truly fascinating so far and I can't wait to keep reading more of his work.
  • Time to make a to do list for the week and hope I'm more successful than I was this week!

6 comments:

  1. I'm honestly not sure I could survive your climate. I so despise temperatures even in the mid-80s. But today the high is only supposed to be in the upper 50s! :D
    I so hope your dad's biopsy goes smoothly!!! I understand your mixed feelings, but I think it will be better to just know what he's dealing with. If you're anything like me, you picture the worse anyway. And if the news is the worse, you at least know it. But maybe, it won't be the worse, and you can breathe a small sigh of relief and move on to worrying about the reality. Hoping with all my heart that your worst fears are NOT realized, Sweetie!!! Can't stop thinking about you. *HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGS*
    I miss reading too. Not that I haven't been reading--just seems like all I read is school stuff now. And some of it's really good, but well, it's just not the same. Anyway, I really, really hope you start adding all those wonderful things that give you joy back into your life. Maybe make it a goal to spend at least a little bit of time each and every day on the things you love. Even if it's a hectic busy day, squeeze in 10 minutes of reading or something. And on your days off, try to make them as much a priority as your chores. I'd love to see a post on all the "happy, just for me" things you can squeeze into one week. :D
    Love you!!!

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    1. As much as I always say I want to move up there with you guys, I don't know that I could survive YOUR climate :p I complain about the heat here all the time (and it is awful!) but when it comes to your winters, I don't know if I could survive that :p I do have to say though, that 80s here with low humidity really isn't bad. And for some reason, 40s and 50s down here feel down right cold while it's not as bad up there. When I've visited with you in August, 50's in the morning felt amazing...here 50's can actually feel cold :p Climates are odd, eh?

      I'm completely like you when it comes to preparing yourself for possible bad news...prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I'm just really anxious at this point to have results of the biopsy and I think my dad is too.

      I really like your idea of MAKING time to do those things I love each day, so I think I'm going to do just that. In fact, I think I'll take a long bath with a book tonight :) It means that I probably won't get to emailing people back tonight like I wanted to, but that can wait another day or two. Love you too Debs!!

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  2. Making a to do list for the week reminds me of someone I know... I hope you can find time to walk more. That's something that I miss. Walking and jogging. I too need to shut off Netflix more often and get outside. Glad to hear that you are reading Oliver Sacks! I am too. Just read Anthropologist on Mars and am now working slowly through Awakenings. I really want to get his new biography, On the Move. We will all be thinking about you on Tuesday and hoping the biopsy brings hopeful news. We all miss you in this house.

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    1. P.S - That picture of you and Megan is awesome! Absolutely awesome!

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    2. Ha! I can't imagine who you're talking about who also likes to make lists :p Yep, I really miss walking. We have this gorgeous trail called the St Tammany Trace that is 31 miles long that meanders through the woods. It's completely paved so you can ride your bike along it too. It used to be a railroad until 1992 when they paved it and made it a trail. It's one of my favorite things to do up here by my apartment! I really want to read Sacks biography too! I wanted to read a few of his other books first though to get to know his work before I got to his biography. He was a great man. Thanks for the thoughts, Rich...I appreciate them! I miss you guys too!

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  3. Well for starters.. I am envious of your cold front!! we don't get any cold fronts that actually do anything besides make it rain until maybe December. I too would love to move from here!! I think I would choose NC or SC. Probably NC near Ashville which my son says has a lot of creative people living there. it has all 4 seasons and "annual" snowfall is only 4 inches!! So short winter!!! but still cool in spring and fall and short hot summers!! *sigh* if I weren't so old and afraid of being so alone without anyone to help if I needed it.. oh well, at least I can dream!
    AWWW you were a cutie in fishnet and a cutie now!!! That's m'boy!
    You absolutely have to do a little something for yourself every day! Every councilor I've had has quoted those words, Mr. Councilor! :)
    Here's hoping Tuesday is better then you think.. love you baby boy

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