Today is the day of lists

I'm a list person. I have To-Do lists, a bucket list, shopping lists, to-get lists, lists of books to read, music to get, places to go, lists of birthday present ideas. I like lists.

So, alas, a list:

1. I'm about to get on my soap box for 3 minutes. Three. That's all. I walked into a patient's room today to ask a quick question and the patient told me they were a nutritionist. Now, I mean no offense to nutritionists. You are great people, I am sure. But it does make my blood simmer a little when I encounter some nutritionists. SOME. NOT ALL. It's like a med student vs. a doctor. Sure you know stuff and have learned stuff and have researched stuff, I'm not discounting that. But please don't diss my hard work and my credentials that I worked wicked hard to get. You see, anyone can claim to be a nutritionist, but it's against the law to claim to be a dietitian without the proper schooling, training, and credentials. I worked hard for this so don't discount that. It was interesting. That is all. And now I am done. *steps off box*

2. This is what I wanted to do today:

Yes, face plant into a pillow and go to bed. It was a long day. A stressful day. Not a bad day, but just a tiring and exhausting day. Scotty is a cutie isn't he?

3. Hi. I'm 25 and my favorite afternoon snack is peanut butter and graham crackers OR graham crackers and applesauce. Just stick me with the toddlers; we'll get along great. 

BUT. Check THIS out!!!! Twice this month I randomly broke my crackers (for better dipping of course) and randomly got these shapes:

  

Vermont and New Hampshire!

This made me a little bit homesick for New England. Gosh I miss that place. I love it so.

4. I have an obsession with anchors. It might be kind of silly but they've become a symbol to me. They remind me of home, of my beloved New England--there is something so majestic and captivating about that placec. I have an anchor necklace and I wear it almost every day; it's a little piece of home I have with me and it just means a lot. Anchors also remind and motivate me to not only stand but to be anchored in holy and good places. And, they just make me happy. I saw this on etsy and fell in love. Had to have it!

5. I am going to attempt to knit a blanket/throw and my friend let me borrow her knitting needles that she used to make one. These are the biggest knitting needles I have ever seen. IN MY LIFE. 

And now, a funny story. I got the needles from my friend right before I had my staffing meeting so I quickly grabbed them from her and tried to stealthy walk into the meeting with the needles in my lab coat pocket. Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly be discreet with 16 inch needles protruding from my pocket so I slide into my seat and tried to hide them in my lap only to hear Dr. W say, "Uh. Gabe. Are you planning on hunting vampires?" Bahahaha! The meeting stopped and I had to explain myself but don't worry, for the rest of the meeting (which lasted about 2 hours), the topic of my stakes, er, knitting needles persisted. And let me tell you, Dr. W was in fine form that day-the jokes! 

6. Confession. I rarely indulge in retail therapy. Rarely. And if I do, I don't go crazy, honest. And rarely do I buy clothing. Usually shoes. Or hair stuff. Or, my favorite, cooking/baking-ware/home goods. Today, however, I had an unplanned, though much needed, therapy sesh. I went to Williams-Sonoma looking for a kitchen gadget...but sadly they had run out of it so I decided to just (riiiight) check out Anthropolige. Well. Check out I did! I can honestly say I have never purchased an article of clothing from them but I do like their home goods section, specifically their dishes. I was wondering around the bowls and cups and all of the sudden I spotted an oven mitt with anchors on it. HAD TO HAVE IT. AND THEN! I found a matching apron. Done. I also found a cute bowl to add to my collection and a new hot chocolate mug that I fell in love with.  

I am so pleeeeeeeeeeased!!!!!!!

I love the colors, the patterns, everything!

And then I suddenly felt much better. Aaaaah nothing like a good retail home goods therapy. I was tempted to go home and bake something BUT, I had other things to do. 

So, that concludes the end of my list. For now. This girl is off to do some packing for a weekend trip! Yay!

Dreams and the Hunt for Black Squid Ink Pasta

I have a tentative 5 year plan. I'm not going into all the details because, truthfully, I have about 3 different 5 year plans depending on this, that, and the other. One of those plans was created because sometimes I toy with the idea of becoming a physician's assistant (PA). Why? Because I would get to basically practice like a doctor without all of the schooling. And I crave to know everything doctors know because it just absolutely fascinates me!!!! I just want to know!!! IT'S SO. COOL. In fact, our ICU dietitian was telling me today that one of the doctors was testing everyone in rounds this morning. I was jealous. I want to be tested! I want to learn! I want to know what the BNP should be in someone with mild vs. severe heart failure!!!!

Anyway, I don't normally talk about dreams because trying to explain them is just too tricky but this one deserves to be shared. It's really funny. At least I thought it was. I had a dream that I was back at school working on becoming a PA but the school I was at was Hogwartz-esque. It was awesome. Old buildings, shiny wood everywhere, brilliant minds zipping around. I don't remember if I was wearing spiffy robes but probably. I'm going to be pretend that I was. I had part of a schedule in my hand and one of my classes was on "Doctor's Handwriting." Legit. No joke. How to write like a doctor. I think with my sloppy handwriting, I'd ace this class. I even had worksheets where I was supposed to practice writing the statement but in "doctor's handwriting," aka illegible. I suppose subconsciously you can tell that I spend a great deal of time trying to decipher doctor's progress notes. I do. Back to the dream. As I was rushing through the crowds of students, who do I bump into but the infamous Dr. W! I told him I was going to become a PA. He thought it was cool and then walked away and I went back to my Harry-Potter-like bedroom and started studying. And then I woke up. Bummer. But it was such a cool dream.


Now, Clary will be here on Thursday and so I've planned out a menu while she is here. One entree includes black squid ink pasta, which I have been dying to try in f o r e v e r. Well a few weeks back I found it at Home Goods but declined buying it. Bad idea. I went tonight and they didn't have it. Sad, sad day. In fact, I didn't find anything I wanted in Home Goods. That NEVER happens!!! I think they are in between shipments or something, you know, getting ready for summer stuff. Then I even tried World Market and they didn't have it. Jeepers. What has a girl got to do to get some black squid ink pasta around here??? 

It's Friday.

I'm warning you now, this post might be all over the place. 

I got a new laptop! Finally! My other laptop served me well for 8 years. I'm kind of a sentimental goob and I feel like a traitor with my new laptop...but I'm also excited to be movin' on up in the technology world. I mean who evens uses Windows XP anymore? I joke (because I still do at work). Plus, this pup has a webcam which means I can skype my friends!!!!! YAY!!!!

Speaking of work. I get to do monthly nutrition chats/activities with my acute rehab floor and this week it was on diabetes. I didn't really plan anything fancy (aka no treats...) because a) I didn't have a lot of time to prepare and b) we have a turnover of patients so when I set the date and topic, I really had no idea how many diabetic patients I would have and what their cognition would be like (we do get traumatic brain injuries, stroke patients, and their cognition can sometimes be a little shaky when they are with us. But don't worry! When they leave they are on the blissful road to a bright recovery (usually...)). Anyway. It went surprisingly well. I was happy. Then I was charting on a patient and Dr. W strolled in and told me to walk down to the solarium and I asked why and he said the cutest kid in the world was visiting. His 4-year old popped in with Dr. W! So I practically skipped down the hall and there he was playing with this car toy thing. I'm not even going to explain it. We started playing together and became buddies. He gave me a (very good) high five. After about 10 minutes I told him I had to go back to work and he said very nonchalantly, "No. You stay here and play with me." How do you say no to that? Well, I certainly didn't and we continued to play, which really consisted of him telling me what to do and me obeying. He is sooooooo cute!!!!

I set a goal as part of my attempts to be healthy to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Epic failure. I think about 4 times this week I have gotten ~5 hours. No dice. I have got to work on that. In fact, I came home from work and plopped on the couch to finish a book when I feel asleep for about 45 minutes and almost missed yoga. I almost didn't go to yoga even because I've felt so crummy but I told myself I would feel even worse sitting on the couch for the rest of the evening. I'm glad I went. 

So I've spent my evening planning on what kind of sauce I am going to make for the homemade gnocchi I'm making this weekend--Sunday I've decided--while transferring all my music from my old computer to my new one. PAINFULLY. LONG. PROCESS. I have something like *cough* 12GB *cough* of music so it's taking a while. Anyway, back to a sauce. I'm going to keep it simple and that's all I will say. 

And let's see. Yup I think that's it. EXCEPT. I got a little unexpected package in the mail (my favorite) yesterday with this in it...

Love it.
I have named him Louie. 

I hugged him and buried my nose in it and smelled home. 

And New England. I can't wait for June.

I'm exhausted so now I am going to bed.

Snack Time, er, Staffing Time

I decided to bring some of those homemade choc chip cookie dough PB cups (that name is really long...) to staffing today. So I set them out on the table and Dr. W dove right in and had one. He liked them. But for the love of chocolate the rest of the staff would wistfully eye the treats and, amused (and might I say I felt a little devilish, a tempter) I watched their self-control break down minute by minute. 


First they would walk in and exclaim, "Ooooh! What are these?" Dr W. would tell them. Now, if it were me, I'd snatch one up and pop it right in my mouth. Much to my delight a few did. Most declined. At first. Then they would eye them and watch a few other people eat them and lick the melted chocolate and peanut butter off their fingers. And then, slowly but surely they would shyly grab one. A few people declined completely. Their loss!!! They were a hit. Maybe I'll make a name for myself here in Myrtle Beach via my baking and treats! I should bake for the 3W nurses. Butter them up a little (ha! No pun intended...). I don't think they like me. Sad day. They scare me. 


I did not make homemade gnocchi this evening but I plan to this week. Instead, I have an activity, staffing on Thursday, and a birthday to bake for so I will be baking up a storm this week. Tonight: the oatmeal chocolate chip/butterscotch chip banana cookies (and yes, for these I do some substitutions to make them a little "healthier"). Yum! My apartment smells divine.


Now, if you'll excuse me...I am off to finish "Sarah's Key." I got lost in the book yesterday and nearly finished it but around midnight (!!!!! I couldn't believe it...). I had to put it down and force myself to get to bed. It's a must-read. Add it to your list. 


Oh. And. And I'm currently lovin' Sara Bareilles, Rob Thomas, (if you didn't notice from my playlist) and the new Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa song. Love music. Love yoga. Love baking. Love reading. Love my new waxed, cleaned, and vacuumed car (after a very unfortunate Saturday night where a drunk person vomited on the side of my car. NOT COOL.) Life is lookin' up. Feeling much better than I have in a bit. This is good. Very good.