McGregor's Garden

Here's my new house that I rent with some other girls! I didn't know how much I would love being in a house rather than an apartment!
We call it
"McGregor's Garden" after the couple we rent from. They live at L'Abri and bought it as a retirement home for a few years down the road. Until then, we get to enjoy this lovely, old house which is only a few blocks from the hospital where I work.In the "Secret Garden" are a couple of plots where I'm thinking of raising some herbs.
Here's a glimpse of the living room complete with a fireplace! I've never lived in a house with a fireplace, and what better place than Minnesota to have one!

Just off the kitchen is a little window seat area. Not pictured is the large unfinished basement with a washer and dryer and lots of storage space.

The kitchen even has a dishwasher. Imagine how spoiled I am going to get with a fireplace, washer, dryer, and a dishwasher! For now I am staying in a little room, which is great except there is only a tiny closet with hardly room for even my few summer clothes. Later in August or September, I'll probably move up to the large upstairs room. There will be room for a few people to sleep on the floor should I have visitors:-). It is also rather quiet, so it will be easier to sleep in the day if I work some night shifts. That was a bit difficult today with the sound of children saying, "A one, a two, a three!" They were trying to hula-hoop on the wooden floor in the living room! It was actually fun to hear the sound of happy children in the house, but I worked a double shift again then remembered that I have agreed to go out to breakfast with my friend, Bev. She then needed to get some groceries, so I got to be at 11:30am. I slept 4 hours, getting up two or three times as well.

I saw staffing problems like I've never seen before at work last night. I was scheduled to work from 3-11:30pm. Some time around 10pm, the charge nurse asked me if I would stay overnight. She wanted me to stay bad enough that she said I could do whatever I wanted to...have an assignment, fly on the floor (to help all of the other nurses), or be in a 1:1 with a confused patient. I chose to fly. Around 11:15pm, there was still no nurse to take most of my patients or my coworker's patients. She went to the front desk to ask about the next nurse. The charge nurse said there was no replacement. She had called all of our staff and was unable to get anyone. Basically, she could give the other nurses way too many patients, or we could stay, which is what we did. There were critical issues going on with three of the patients and another couple of unexpected things, so it was interesting.

What is Something Satisfying about Your Work?

That's right, it's question time again! I'm looking for thoughtful answers to this question. I have been thinking about it from time to time all year and even more recently as I have considered various work options. On August 7th, I celebrated my first year of working full-time by...working!Working is something all of us do in one form or another, so no one is exempt from thinking about this. I've asked friends, coworkers, patients, even strangers. Now I'm asking you!

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"It does not seem to be true that work necessarily needs to be unpleasant. It may always have to be hard, or at least harder than doing nothing at all. But there is ample evidence that work can be enjoyable, and that indeed, it is often the most enjoyable part of life."

(The real question is: am I in trouble for posting this picture of Mama and Daddy?)

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."

Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand

"Family"

The other night, my new roommates and I had a "family night." Some friends came over for dinner around the table and an evening of visiting, getting Internet fixed, and stretching. That's right, stretching. One of the guests is studying to be a physical therapist, and she taught me about stretching and various exercises. I think I need to follow up on that. A couple of days ago, I went over to help Sarah hang some pictures and just chat. Then, this evening, another Sarah had a friend and me over for supper and an evening of visiting, Boggle, and Settlers.

I just have to say that I have been tremendously blessed during these last few days. I am looking forward so much to this next year here in Rochester. Psalm 68:6 says, "God sets the lonely in families." In the absence of my own family, God is providing for my need for fellowship.

Busy Days

I moved into my new place, slept a night, worked 3pm-7am, slept 5 hours, worked 3pm-7am, slept, then talked on the phone for 3 hours with technical support for our new internet! The shifts as work went very well and were rewarding. My coworkers thought I must be hard up for money. I don't know exactly why I worked that much, but they needed extra help and I felt like it:) I had some great conversations with coworkers during those two shifts and had some interesting patients as well. The best part of all was that I had two Spanish speaking patients! The first night my coworker had one of the patients, but I helped out with him so much that they assigned him to me the next day. I absolutely LOVED using my Spanish. You know, I got so much reward out of those two 16 hour shifts I can't even explain it.

Note: there have been a few times that I share the wonderful things that happen at work and how much I love nursing, then a day or two later I want so badly to erase those posts! But you know, I never have:)

The talk on the phone with the last tech support man in India was quite interesting as well. We chatted about random things throughout our conversation, because sometimes I would be rebooting my computer or doing something that required waiting. Among other things, we talked about the rewarding aspects of our jobs, faith, atheism, and more. He is proud to be an atheist.

I think I'm going to love the house where I am living, but I obviously haven't gotten to spend much time here yet. Today I'm just going through files on my computer and backing things up in case I mess things up trying to get my internet to work. This evening I am going to the annual corn feed that a couple in my church does at their house. It's finally raining here!

Moving

I may not have much internet access for the next week or two. The last couple of weeks have been very busy with constant working, packing, and moving. I am moving into an old house that is within walking distance of the hospital. It has a backyard, garden plot, fireplace, dishwasher...basically, I may soon be spoiled. I will be living there with some other girls. Sarah and I are trying to explain to people that we are not living together because I was planning to move then changed my mind. We do still talk...though our landlord suspected that we didn't!

We moved all of our furniture on Wednesday, so I've been sleeping on a borrowed blowup mattress that loses air and needs blown up during the night. FYI: moving is much more difficult when you have furniture and it's hot and humid outside.

Famous Last Words

Yesterday, I boasted during lunch break that I have never cried at work.
Today, I cried at work.

Love Completely

"Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: “We are willing to help Lord, but what, if anything is needed. For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give, or more often than not, the part we have to give is not what is needed...

...And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them. We can love completely without complete understanding."

~A River Runs Through It

Northern Minnesota

I'll keep it simple...few words, many photos.

Our route: Rochester, Duluth, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Ely and the International Wolf Center, Voyageurs National Park, Rochester.

Here's the crew at Gooseberry Falls!

The Aerial Lift Bridge at Duluth is quite unique in that it raises up for boats and ships to pass, then lowers again for cars to drive. Built in 1905, it was the first of only two such bridges built in the United States.

Split Rock Lighthouse is definitely worth the stop. Completed in 1910, all of the materials for the lighthouse, fog signal building, and three houses were hoisted up from Lake Superior. The lense that magnifies the light and rotates to send a light signal every 10 seconds was imported from France. It runs like clock work with the gears as shown in this photo.

In Ely, we visited the International Wolf Center. Ely is a major point of entry for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Who wants to go exploring with me? The boundary waters is the place to go for a few days of real wilderness river and lake canoeing. Perhaps our favorite part of the trip was the time spent in Voyageurs National Park. The first evening we took a tour boat to Ellsworth Island, where Mr. Ellsworth spent 20 summers working on his rock garden. I guess that's one way to spend your summers.

We stayed near Kabetogama Lake. The sunrise was irresistable, so I went out to watch the fisherman leave, the ducks swim, the beaver glide in the water, and just enjoy some time alone in one of the most peaceful places in the world.

Then we got a ride to an island, where we hiked a couple of miles to Locator Lake to canoe, where we saw no one else for the whole time. On Locator Lake, we relaxed, watched loons, ate blueberries, and even had a little fun!



Okay, what in the world did I do or say to deserve such looks?

Apparently, there is more than one way to canoe...Micah and Daniel had to give it a try.

I don't know what the above is called, but it was fun. The best part was Mama, our watchful lifeguard wearing Daddy's "I Dive" hat!

To conclude the trip, the family helped me move my couch and chair to the new house where I will be moving by the end of July. I took the weary travelers all around Mayo Clinic and St. Mary's Hospital on a tour before I let them rest up for their flights home today. All around, I would call the trip a success! Now, it's back to work, packing, moving, and planning.

Rochester

For those of you who don't already know, I've had a change of plans over the last couple of weeks...I'm staying in Rochester!!! I don't even know how to explain it, but I think the Lord has more to teach me and more for me to do here. So many things have confirmed this decision, and I am very excited about the new changes and challenges that this year promises to bring. The first major change is that I will be moving into a house with a couple of other young ladies. The sad part is that Sarah has already set up an apartment with another girl (in other words, I've been replaced, but it's my own falt for changing my mind at the last minute). The wonderful part is that I will be less than a mile from work.

I've been rather excited about all of these things in the last couple of weeks, but you know, one can only live on adrenaline so long. Mama, Daddy, Micah, Daniel, Anna, and Angela are coming to visit me tomorrow! They will be here about a week, during which time we are going up north. More to come...

Fly Fishing the Whitewater

On Saturday, I went fly fishing on the Whitewater River with a couple of my coworkers, Brian and Kelsey! It was a warm 94 degree day, but being in the cool water made it just about perfect. Perfect except for the stinging nettles...



Brian, our pro guide and instructor.

Though they may look harmless, when in contact with the skin they feel like a knives. The good thing is that the water soothes the stings and they leave no lasting welts or rashes. Because it was so warm, the fish were not biting well. Brian and Kelsey each caught one, and, well, I tried. I did catch some big trees, if that counts for anything! At least I got lots of practice casting, didn't hook any people, and never hopelessly tangled the line.

Kelsey's trout:)

Contentment

Let's just say, the past week has been a very interesting...more details to come.Among other things, I have eaten my fill of wild blackberries and thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous weather while tramping around Quarry Hill Park. Butterflies, flowers, time alone in my secret place to seek the Lord.
I feel like there is so much to say, but I'm not in the mood to start. Just enjoy the pictures and know that I love you all.

See how these fungi growing on a log have a grain like wood?
For the 4th, I went to L'Abri to play ball, Frisbee, and just visit around the campfire and watch fireworks. It warmed my heart to spend time with such a great community of people doing nothing but enjoying each other and the perfect evening. Have you ever experienced a deep contentment that reaches to the core of your being? That's what I felt.

The view of Rochester from the hill where L'Abri is situated was breathtaking.

White Coat, L'Abri, Ubng

Wearing a white lab coat and rounding with the trauma team, I got numerous quizzical looks from my coworkers! It was like, "Who does she think she is? She's only worked here for a year, and now she's walking around with the doctors?"

On Tuesday, I shadowed Ann, one of the nurse practitioners on our trauma service. We met at 6am to get report from the residents that were there for the night, then the day resident, nurse practitioners (NP's), and physician assistants (PA's) went to make rounds on their patients in the ICU and on my floor of the hospital. At 8am, everyone met with the consultant (head doctor) to go over all of the patients. During that conference, they went over what's going on with the patients, treatment plans, discharge plans, etc... Several phone calls were made to consulting services in order to coordinate plans and assure the things are happening that need to in order to get patients' surgeries or be ready for discharge. Next, the whole team made rounds together with the consultant. We were almost finished with rounds when the trauma pager went off.

We ran to the ER to prepare for a category one patient from a vehicle collision. The patient went unconscious and pulseless soon after arriving. I saw several firsts, such as the insertion of a couple of chest tubes, CPR for 10 minutes, confusion and trouble shooting as to where the patient was bleeding, and massive blood transfusions. After transfer to vascular radiology, they were able to identify where the bleeding was. In the operating room, they uncovered where the bleeding was and packed it with gauze to stop it. After 60 units of red blood cells + 24 litres of fluid and other blood components, the patient did not survive. The rest of the day gave me a chance to see Ann make phones calls, talk to patients, and write orders and prescription. I also got to ask more questions to help me understand the work of and NP, PA, and resident as well as how we as nurses can interact more effectively with the team. For those of you interested in NP or PA, I would be more than happy to tell you more about what I learned.

AFTER a nap, I went to L'Abri for a movie night. The main issues discussed were pacifism, violence, and nonviolent resistance. Afterwards, I had an interesting talk with Ubng, a guy from Sudan. Just to hear his story after reading the book, A Long Way Gone, was interesting. He was first being introduced to the alphabet when he was around 12 or 13. Someone told him he should learn it because people could send a letter with him telling someone to kill him without him even knowing it. Later, he saw the letters somewhere else and realized that he could recognize them. He then walked hours to get to a school where he progressed through the 7th grade. In order to keep from being forced to fight, he left school and eventually escaped into Kenya. He and his brother made it to the states, but his brother was on dialysis and Ubng did not make enough money to pay for that. Eventually, he donated a kidney to his brother, who has now finished a master's degree. Ubng is going to college now taking general classes and ESL. His dream is to be able to help his country find peace by means other than the gun. He says that even if some of us can go over there for just a week it can be a big encouragement.

Yesterday, I went to L'Abri again to watch part of the video series called "How Should WE Then Live" narrated by Francis Schaeffer. I hope to go back and watch some more when I get the chance. It was so much fun to help Rachel and Jo make supper. I guess I really do miss getting to cook with others instead of just by myself. We had excellent carrot soup, bread machine baked bread, and salad with lettuce from the garden and homemade dressing. Maybe the best part was that a lady, Gloria Petersen, Ph.D., head of genetic research on pancreatic cancer at Mayo, came to eat supper and discuss DNA, RNA, her research, and all kinds of issues within the field of genetics. She is so enthusiastic about what she does, making the discussion very interesting and insightful as we talked about everything from genetic testing and its implications, gay genes, God/religiosity genes, microwaves, the Hiroshima bombing effects. The best part was just boggling our minds with the seemingly infinite detail of God's creation as we continue to discover more of what He created and knew long ago.