Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Wow


I really thought I'd do more with this blog in the past 2 years. It's kind of sad that I only posted about 5 or 6 really shallow sugar-coated posts back in July of 2004 and then sort of let it fall to the wayside. Well believe me folks-a lot has happened, a lot of big important stuff in my life that is deep and thoughtful and wonderful and sad and awesome and intriguing! Just because it's not in my blog doesn't mean it's not real!

So what has happened? Well, along with cooking a lot of really great meals, including my famous chili, I've managed to squeeze a lot of life into the past 2 years and 2 months.

We've visited some really great places, including:

Cape Cod, driving out to good ol' P'town, which is one of my favorite places on Earth. There is nothing quite like being out on the end of a spiral cape of beach to make you really feel like you are at the end of the Earth. It's a good feeling. I wish I lived there. Hyannis has a hospital. I could find work there. I would brave the winters in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, a nice steamy coffee in my cupholder as I drove to work singing the songs of my early 20's with a smile on my face.

We've been to Florida twice since the last post and have decided that we need to live there. Both of our parents live there. It's hot, tropical, wild, crazy, and the kind of place where the pursuit of happiness is alive and well. Although a red state through and through, it has enough displaced Northerners to make me feel like I could turn it into my home. It's the kind of place you actually move to for the lifestyle. And we're in desperate need of a lifestyle. I want to go boating, throw a line into the water on a weekly basis, grow a banana tree, and swim most days. I want the beach to be in walking distance. I want to throw back some Coronas under my lanai, listening to the thunder coming in from miles and miles away, completely unobstructed, completely clear over the flat land of the peninsula.

We made our way down to Ocean City, Maryland by way of South Jersey and down through Delaware. What the hell is the deal with Delaware anyway? God damn. There is, like, NOTHING going on in Delaware. We drove through Dover thinking that since it was the capital of the whole entire state that there would have to be a decent place to eat. We found NOTHING. It was eerie. Anyhoo...Ocean City is gorgeous, especially in the off-season when no one is there. We got an amazing room-actually more than a room, it was kind of like a pent-house suite on the corner of the building with a hot tub inside, a hot tub outside, a couple of rooms, all for a very decent price at a major hotel chain. That's probably where Penny was created if my logic and math are both correct.

We made a beautiful baby during this time.

We've done a million fun things with both of our girls and done some hard work as parents together. We've ushered our older girl into her teen years and all of the difficulties, joys, laughs, and tears have been right there where you would expect them to be.

My husband had major open-heart surgery during this time. He had extensive pre-testing, a week's stay at NYU, and a 3 month recovery at home.

I managed to go slightly crazy working on a very demanding med-surg floor. I learned a lot. I saw a lot of really fascinating stuff. I left feeling very conflicted, heart-broken, defeated, and terrible. I'm just too old for that crap.

I found work as a psych nurse at an outpatient mental health facility in a major urban area of my state. I am one of a handful of nurses in a social service agency. I can't imagine doing anything but psych nursing from now on. There is a reason why it was my favorite rotation in school. It is where I belong...for now...I can still see hospice nursing as a possibility in my future, but that too is so dependent on strong psych skills and pharmacology.

At the end of the day what is GOOD nursing besides very strong interpersonal communication and strong pharmacology knowledge?

I don't know who said it first but I was taught in school that the definition of nursing is "therapeutic use of the the self." Beautiful, isn't it?

It all boils down to one human being using energy and knowledge to help another human being.