Influences

This week was a pretty good week. Friday night, I had a date with a farmer. He is the brother of a co-worker and she's been trying to set us up for months. Finally, I agreed to her giving him my phone number, so we have talked on the phone for the last few weeks. Friday he drove up (he lives on his farm in Pana, which is about 2 hours away), and took me to dinner, frozen custard, and a movie. And while I've since decided that it's not gonna work out, it was really fun to be taken out on the town like that!
Then I worked 4 nights in a row. The first night, I was team leader again, and it went really well. No emergencies, good patients, good teamwork. The next two nights, I got to be in the nursery. It was a relief, because I was a little worried that becoming team leader would mean that I could never be in the nursery anymore (since I'm needed on the floor). And on Tuesday night- I got to be in the NICU! Those of you who remember my early nursing dreams might recall that for years (probably 10+) I wanted to be one thing and one thing only--to be a NICU nurse! Then, since getting my current job, whenever I go down to the NICU with patients, I am only intimidated by the tiny, sickly babies, and many beeping monitors-nothing seemed appealing about it at all. So Tuesday, when I got to work and they asked if I was willing to float down there, I was hesitant. But it turned out to be really nice! I had three "feeder-grower" babies, which are exactly what they sound like- basically babies that are just too small to go home, but aren't really on oxygen, or ventilators, or anything invasive anymore. It was a really good night-at least until I got a lap full of breast-milk and had to go change my pants!Today I went in to talk to the scheduler about a day she needed me to switch around, and when I was leaving, she asked if I would rather be cross-trained to labor and delivery, but stay on nights, or stay on postpartum, but go back to days...no question- bring me back to days! (She didn't say anything more than that, but keep your fingers crossed!)
Now I get a few days off, and after a night catching up with my good friend Kim tomorrow, we will be off to the suburbs to party at the wedding of friends Mark and Jesse on Saturday! Yay!

I have to admit: Since basically all I do when I'm not working or sleeping is watch tv, I have come to the point where my mood is influenced by what I watch (sick I know). "Grey's Anatomy" tonight was actually sort of uplifting- ending with Derek telling Meredith to stop worrying about the future, and focus on enjoying the present. This is a huge problem for me. I am CONSTANTLY planning, plotting, and dreaming about my future and not really enjoying the present moment. Today, while running errands, I stopped for a minute and took a deep breath of the fall air. I had forgotten how much I truly love this season: the warm breezes, the dry air, the beautiful colors, the crisp cool night air- LOVE IT! And I'm really going to try to be more appreciative of the every day moments.