There's nothing quite like coming home after a long night of work to the faces of my mommy dog and her baby boy waiting for a little play time. They wag not just their tails but their whole bodies in their happiness to see me.
This is topped only by the sight of two 16-lb cats playing tag as they jump back and forth across the makeshift cardboard barrier wall in the kitchen, created for the puppy but also (apparently) for their amusement as well :>
Hee :) Hey, it's the small things. . .
If you study to become a nurse, your top reason for getting into the profession isn't the megacash salary you'll be making. There are several reasons I got into nursing and the money wasn't in the top ten.
But I'd be lying if I said that pay didn't matter at all.
Nursing salaries, on average, suck. Based on the level of skill, the number of hours, the duties and patient loads they're expected to handle, nurses are grossly underpaid. Teachers too, but I digress.
So I'm negotiating with my managers for a pool position. Being a pool nurse will allow me greater flexibility with my hours while earning me more $. There are drawbacks, the greatest being that I won't be taking advantage of the health or dental insurance afforded to a staff nurse, but since we can get all that through Mel's work, that's fine.
At this point it's either pool status or I'm out.
You know it's bad when being a greeter at Walmart is looking good.
My husband lives in daylight, I "live" at night. So it's difficult to find moments when I can be awake & coherent at the same time as he is, but we do it. Sometimes, it's something as simple as taking a ride together.
Around Thanksgiving of last year, he bought a motorcycle. From his sister. A rumbling monstrosity of a Harley Davidson which he now uses for commuting. He'll take any excuse to ride it. Last night, for instance. . .a video game rental needed to be returned. The evening weather was mild and perfect so why not take the bike for a spin and take the game back? And of course you know, it takes two people to take a video game back to Blockbuster :>
So we grabbed our helmets and headed out. Now this state has no helmet law anymore - which amazes me and is fodder for another post completely - but we're not stupid and both of us have seen what the lack of a helmet can do for a crash victim. He hasn't found the need to put on full leathers for his rides...yet...so we just hopped on in t-shirts and jeans. When he first bought the bike, I had flashbacks to the times when we were dating and I'd visit him in Montana. I'd hop on the back of his Honda and we'd take rides down the open roads around Great Falls under all the beauty that is the Big Sky Country, and I felt completely confident in doing so.
Now here it is, years later, and I'm hopping on the bike again, only this time we're in the city and it's not a skinny Honda but a big,bad Harley. But he's a skilled rider and I feel safe when I'm tucked in behind him, my feet resting on my own foot pads. So safe that I've had to resist the urge to raise my arms in the air like a bird in flight ala that scene from Titanic where DiCaprio and Winslet are standing in the bow of the ship.
We turned in the game, then took the long way home, exploring roads he knew as a child, meandering through a local park just as the sun was setting. Harleys aren't known for their quietness but he managed to keep the big engine at a low growl as we coasted around the park, watching a local dog obedience club with all its varied breeds practicing in the grass nearby.
As we turned toward home we saw the sun setting and speculated that it must look amazing down on the beach - which would have been a mere 10 minute diversion from our homeward route, but we decided to save it for another time (when I have my camera onboard as well!). The cool thing about riding on a motorcycle is that it opens your senses to so much more than when you're inside a car; you see and hear every little sight and sound. You also get more complete strangers waving at you :) You might think that the wind is too much, the ride as a passenger uncomfortable, but it's not, and frankly it's a nice way to unwind, get to know the area, and spend time with someone you care about.
Yup, I'm a Harley convert. I'm not getting my own bike...yet, but haven't ruled that out and am looking into the local motorcycle riding courses available. Someday, maybe I'll be the one taking him for a ride :>
I hope everyone is having a good new year. There's nothing new to report in mine. . .yet.
But I'm working on it.
Stay tuned. . .
The voice is coming back sloooowly. I've tried not to talk, purposely avoiding situations which would require me to speak, etc. and it's working. Compared to the mere whisper I had 3 days ago, the hoarse half-croak, half-whisper I have now sounds good.
'tis a weird thing when you have laryngitis. People look at you as though they've never experienced hoarseness before and you can see them making a visible effort not to take two steps backward as though you have the plague. With this particular bout of vocal loss I've felt decent enough to continue life as usual but the whole sotto voce thing is getting a little old. Okay, a lot old. Repeating myself over and over again lost its dubious charm 4 days ago when I first lost my voice.
When I was at work 3 nights ago and the laryngitis was at its worst, I was fortunate enough to work with tiny people who didn't care if I could talk or not. Tomorrow night I'll most likely be out on the floor with adult patients so the voice better hurry on back.
'cuz I'm not spending the 12 hours communicating on a dry erase board.