Ethan’s Journey

 I woke up at 7:07am today. That was only to find that TWO people had scheduled meetings with me at 7am and 7:30 am at some point after I went to bed. I was late to the first meeting obviously.  I called the second person at 7:30 and she said that she thought her meeting was at 8:00 (because it was). I told her I would call her back at 8:00 but was now late to my 7:30 meeting. Ugh.  I had back to back meetings until 9:30. I quick jumped in the shower got ready and did a 10:00 meeting. Then hopped in the car and drove to Ethan’s work for his 11:00 nephrology telehealth visit. Overall he is doing well with his kidney. He has been hydrating more. I hopped back in the car and drove home. I had two more meetings. Ethan had come home from work by then. He showered, got dressed and we were off to Strong Hospital to meet with our new cardiologist.  I felt so nervous and unsettled. Switching is so much work. Plus you have to build trust.   While we were in the waiting ro...

 I worked overnight last night at the ER. We now have our little group. I told them I was moving to once a month Sundays. He was bummed and said “I have never worked here without you here with me.” I feel the same way buddy.  I have met some cool people. I just can’t physically and mentally keep up with every Sunday. Once a month is so much better. I got home at about 6:45am and beelined to bed. I set my alarm for 7:45am to get up and ride with Ethan to the doctor. The  doctor’s appointment was for an annual physical/mental health assessment. That went well. Far better than last year. Ethan and the doctor did discuss the tetanus vaccine as well as the DPT vaccine. We did have to remind them that Ethan is allergic to the P of DPT….so that was a hard no. Ethan will entertain the idea of the DT without the P.  Ethan declined the hepatitis A. I really worked on allowing Ethan to work through his choices with the doctor.  Candidly, the idea of vaccines doesn’t excite...

 One of the things I am learning in my leadership class and retraining my brain to do is pair patience with asking questions coming from a place of curiosity instead of judgement.  Judgement is easy. It is a basic skill and we need to elevate and work to achieve coming from a place of curiosity. It removes the condescending mindset a lot of us (including myself) have depending on the situation. This morning at the lab I witnessed the basic judgement attitude a lady had. I admit that I don’t know what she is dealing with currently in her life. But this is how the events unfolded. One of the phlebotomist’s called someone name. This woman stood up and bee lined to the counter stating that the kiosk must be broken because the person they called had come in after her. She was snarky about it and presented this information in a “I know it all” and “you did this to me” type of way. “Your kiosk must be broken because I came in before that guy and he just got called.” The lady at the d...

Man! I am glad it is Friday! I am sick of this week! I need a day or so to reset.  It’s March 1st. Both my Aunt and Uncle were born on this day at the same hospital. It’s a great ice breaking fun fact. Happy Birthday Lois and Craig! I wish I had gotten more accomplished at work today. I am one person and can only do so much. I keep telling myself. I do find my job rewarding and challenging. Overall I really like it. There are just some times where I get annoyed. Usually it is because of ignorance on some level. Tomorrow we have an appointment at the eye doctor quite early, lab work and then stopping at the pharmacy to get things situated. One good thing that happened today was that I worked on the couch today. Because I was on the couch, the pups were all laying on me and I really enjoyed their company. Dogs are such a day to day constant in our lives. I remember missing them so much while I was in NYC. Apparently I rely on them heavily for entertainment, and to keep me entertained...

 Happy Leap Year! Wow!  We had a bit of a wintertime mix today. It was so beautiful. Snow is such a pain in the ass to shovel, get off your car, trudge through, but it is just so pretty. Paul likes it to snowmobile, but this season has been especially terrible and depressing for our snowmobiles! There were big fat flakes falling down from the sky! I took a comp day today. I spent my comp day actually deep cleaning my house. Shampooing the rugs and couch, bathing all 3 dogs and washing their bedding. Washing our bedding and towels. Mopping everything. Meal prep for the next 3-4 weeks for Paul and Ethan. And even more.  It didn’t feel like work because I was so much less stressed after it was done. I think about the dog paws on the couch and everyone’s feet trapsing around. I just wanted it cleaned. I sat back this evening and basked in the cleanliness. Ahhhhhh. I feel less tense already. It is something about a clean house that makes you feel settled and accomplished. The ...

My day started off well! The weather was nice, I got my hair done. Then it went on a slippery slope just like the weather, down the tubes. I dubbed today, instead of “hump day”, I called it “I am sick of the bull shit Wednesday”.  My frustration swelled as the day went on. Then this magical thing happened. I looked up from my computer to see my little Avery smiling at me. “Hi” she called. Yay! She popped in at just the right moment.  She just came home to say hi. She was enjoying the weather. She wanted to see the dogs. She even got a snarky “why is she here?” From her brother. Avery went with me to pick up groceries and then helped me put them away. She casually mentioned that she got correspondence from the Honor’s College that said her teachers have recognized her potential. She was so down low about it, like it was no big deal. Ethan was researching more about how to get his class A CDL license. He isn’t happy with his current work situation and wants to explore other opti...

I slept in today until 6:30! I woke up refreshed and ready to tackle the day. It was hard to work with the birds singing, the sunshine shining and the warm weather visiting. I had the windows open. I even saw a frog in the pond which is a little scary. Hope the little dude takes cover for when the cold weather comes back! I couldn’t seem to catch up today. There was always more and I finally called it quits at 7:30 pm.  Ethan had an ok day at work today. He is looking into alternative career options. He is thinking this job might be too hard on his body. It is very dusty and he is finding that he needs to wear a respirator a lot. He is worried it isn’t good for his lungs. I had a crocus pop out today. I do love seeing my flowers! I find the nice weather just erases any bad attitude that I may have. Yay! It’s magic! How is it almost March already????