Happy Tuesday to you all! I hope you had a wonderful three-day weekend, or for those of us that had to work on some of the days..a wonderful regular weekend! hah.
On Friday morning I had my first day as a volunteer at OHSU. I’ll be spending four hours a week in the pediatric oncology/hematology unit playing with the kids, cleaning toys, giving parents a break, or anything I can do to be helpful. It was an unpleasant shock to me to see kids that sick. Kids stuck in bed, not able to run around or play, with tubes in their arms and noses, some too weak too even roll over. I had to keep myself from tearing up a few times..the last thing they need is some stranger reminding the families that they’re in a sad situation. It’s probably not something I’ll ever get “used to” but I will know how to handle myself.
After I’d finished up at the hospital, I drove work as a CNA. I was in a new unit, assisted living, and it was a pretty crazy night! We had a resident take a bad fall and paramedics were called in. I was one of the people who found her. The entire day Friday really helped put my own “problems” into perspective.
Saturday morning I was up bright and early, at work again! Since I didn’t nanny last week I signed up for a bunch of extra CNA shifts.
The face of someone who worked until 12am and then had to be up by 5 am to make it BACK to work. Which was totally my own, dumb decision. Black circles are so sexayyy. After my shift I returned to OHSU for an 8 hour day of volunteering. I needed to get in 8 more hours of partner volunteering before my first solo shift on Thursday, so I wanted to get it out of the way. I changed into my polo in my car, ate a Starbucks salad, and hit the floor!
That night when I got home I was absolutely exhausted. 14 hours of being on my feet, moving residents, playing with kids (which I LOVED don’t get me wrong), and walking over 20,000 steps. I was bone-tired and my back was murderously painful. I was supposed to work again Sunday morning but I knew I needed to give my body a chance to calm down otherwise I’d be laid up for weeks. I slept long and hard Saturday night.
Turned out to be a good thing I did, because on Sunday I randomly caught a bug! I must have picked up some weird thing while being at the hospital, and I couldn’t keep any food down from noon until around 7pm. Fun fun fun. David came home from work and we decided to stick with our plans of heading to the beach anyway. I was starting to feel slightly better and able to keep stuff down, so we packed up the car and headed out!
Our friends Rachel and Harrison live in an adorable beachside neighborhood and we LOVE to go visit them. Two of our other friends were there and we loved catching up! It’s crazy how many of our friends from Montana are in Oregon with us now! #NoNewFriends. Friday night we went to a tap room called “The Black Squid”. They had board games, all sorts of drinks and snacks, a cool atmosphere, and great music. I had two pints of Kombucha and left looking like I was 6 months pregnant. THERE YOU GO SILLY STOMACH CALM DOWN OK GEEZE.
Monday, after a light breakfast, we headed to the beach.
heh. heh. Santo was PUMPED.
We relaxed, played with the dogs, played Polish horseshoes, and visited. There’s something so calming and wonderful about being next to the ocean.
We had to pack up and leave around 2pm. We thought we had a potluck to get to but halfway through the drive we realized the potluck was NEXT weekend. Oops! I had even baked a cake on Saturday….more for us I suppose!! We relaxed at home and the, per my mom’s suggestion, started the show Broadchurch.
(3rd-strike.com)
OH. MY. LANTA. You guys, we finished the first season. We were up until 2am. I NEVER DO THAT. Seriously…never. No matter how good the show is I always get tired after two or three episodes. With this show it wasn’t even an option. One episode would end and we’d just look at each other and click “next episode”. We couldn’t stop.
There’s two more seasons but I don’t think we should start the second one tonight…I really need to be up before 10am tomorrow!!
Today I am picking up the boys’ after their first day of school!! I can’t wait to hear all about it!! Happy Tuesday!!
Santo and Hedgehog 