Monthly Archive

My sister and I have both made reference in our blogs to the fact we used to fight like cats and dogs… Still do, once in a very great while.  But I got to thinking today about the fact we weren’t always fighting as kids.  There was the summer we ate Top Ramen noodles every single day for the whole summer.  I don’t think either of us remembers quite why we did that, other than we were just kids.  And there were the hours we would spend riding our dirt bike around the pasture with me begging her to sing either Olivia Newton John’s Let me be There or Da do Ron Ron by Shaun Cassidy (at the time I had no idea anyone else had recorded the song before him).  To this day I can’t hear either of those songs without thinking of my sister’s lovely voice and her rolling her eyes at me and saying “Again?” when I’d ask her to sing for me one more song.  I smile when I think of summer days in the sun spent in the shallow river our grandparents live near.  We would spend hours in the water swimming, splashing each other, laughing a lot.  Cindra taught me to dive on the deeper far side of the river.  And the two of us would laugh about being embarrassed to be seen in grandma and grandpa’s old Pinto station wagon when it was all we had to get around in.  To this day I can’t smell a wet dog without thinking of camping out at the end of the pasture in Cindra’s tent and our dog, Tippy, coming in the tent soaking wet and stinky… but we’d let him stay and dry off and sleep with us.  And I’d almost forgotten until we were talking the other day about playing King of the Jungle on top of this cement disk, I think it was the cover to the water well.  We’d play that for hours.  And she would always win!  And I’d call her Cinbad the Lion.  Lion being the king of the jungle and she’s a Leo, so it all fit.  These are silly little things that are just a few of our many, many shared experiences that only she and I completely understand.  My childhood wasn’t perfect (eh, who’s is?) but there are many parts of it I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.  And the shared happy memories with my sister are one of those parts.  She’s my sister, my friend, my hero, my inspiration.  I love you, sis. 

I got to do something really great today.  I got to mail off my final car payment!  After five years of making those payments month after month, I’m finally done!  It’s all mine.  I’m really looking forward to being out from under those payments.  Just thought I’d share …

I recently read a most fabulous post on Gawpo’s blog and had to write my own version.  As you’ll see reading it, it’s one of those anyone can personalize and write their own version.  At the end I will link to the instructions.  Thanks Gawpo and Lime for the post, the inspiration, and the instructions!

I am from sand, the beach, and campbell’s soup.

I am from a long, narrow stretch of land with a creek running along the length of it.  I am from a house on a hill looking over the ocean with large windows all through the living room offering the most amazing view of the sun setting and rising over my beloved beach.

I am from fir trees.  I am from lakes full of bass and trout.

I am from singing Happy Birthday to each other loudly and usually out of key and never forgetting to say I love you often.  I am from Jackie, Cindra, Charlene, and Caryl and Lois and Minnie. 

I am from strong, independent women and lots of noisy conversation.  I am from never hiding your emotions. 

I am from a cold bitter winter with very deep snow the winter after I was born.  I am from being able to ride a horse by the time I could walk. 

I am from my great Grandmother, a devout Lutheran, who insisted mom and dad have my sister and I baptized as babies.  I am from my other great Grandmother who left me with a memory of her always having a bible on her nightstand.  I am from my mother and aunt who taught me that God will do His will in my life if I just allow him to show me what that will is. 

I am from the land of fjords and the land of the Berlin Wall.  I am from lefse and potato krubs and potato candy at Christmas. 

I am from my father and uncle going camping and leaving the food outside during the night and waking to find a bear eating their food and retreating into the tent until the bear finished eating. 

I am from my sister and I learning to fish and getting our first fishing poles on a trip to a family fishing resort in the state of many lakes.  I am from my sister getting a tick in her hair while visiting that resort and the dog getting one in his hair, too.  I am from the dog that my sister and I had growing up who would sleep in the tent with us when we “camped” at the end of the pasture, even when he was wet and smelled horrible. 

I am from photo albums in mom’s attic and in my sister’s house.  I am from the only photo I have ever seen of my dad, mom, sister, and I together.  I am from handprints my sister and brother and I made as children that mom keeps in a box.  I am from a set of wooden Christmas tree ornaments painted together as a family in a warm bright kitchen one winter as a child.  I am from those things that bring back so many happy, sad, and bittersweet memories all at once. 

Instructions to write your own version here.  

“They” say one of the keys to losing weight is to determine what eating habits you need to improve and change, right?  Well, I usually eat dinner around 5:30 pm and leave for work shortly after 6.  I don’t usually get a chance to eat anything more until 1:30 am… some eight hours later.  So by the time I do eat at 1:30 am I’m hungry and just want to run down to the cafeteria and find whatever fatty, fried, unhealthy food choices they have available.  Being an intelligent girl, it took me all of five seconds to figure out this habit needs to change.  The solution to changing turned out to be pretty easy to figure out, too.  I cook just for myself and most recipes make three of four servings, at least.  So obviously, I usually have leftovers.  So it was a pretty easy leap to just carry my lunch to work with me to eat healthier choices.  And to keep from being so hungry when I finally do sit down to eat at 1:3o am, I’ve been carrying healthy snacks like nuts, trail mix, and granola bars in my backpack to work with me.  I can eat those on the go so that when I do eat a real meal at 1:30 am, I’m not as hungry so not eating as much.  And what I am eating is healthier and I have better control over portion sizes.  So this is a new healthy habit I’m working on.  So far I don’t see any down sides to it at all and it’s working out very well. 

I know that according the calendar, January is the beginning of a new year.  But to me spring has always felt more like it should be the beginning of a new year.  There’s just something about fresh green grass and daffodils and sunshine coming out after months of dreary grey skies.  Those things make me think of new beginnings and fresh starts.  (Maybe tied into my eternal, hopeless optimism?)  That’s the  main reason spring has always been my favorite season.  Well, and the fact my birthday is in the spring.  Just ask my family how much I like to celebrate my birthday, they’ll tell you.  But I digress… Back to speaking of spring.  Today was the first day it really felt like spring is right around the corner.  It made me smile. 

Today is my mom’s birthday.  I called her, of course, to wish her a Happy Birthday.  She once said none of her three children would ever dare not call her on her birthday, and she’s right.  She’s always made our birthdays special for us, so of course we wouldn’t forget hers. 

You know how “they” say women turn into their mothers as they grow older?  I’ve often joked that I don’t have to worry about that happening… I already have!  That’s not a bad thing, though.  My mom happens to be a very strong, independent, intelligent, witty, warm, compassionate, beautiful woman.  If I happened to have gotten any of those traits from her, I’m proud to give her the credit. 

I’ve said before that I think mother/daughter relationships are the most complex relationships in the world.  And I’m truly happy that my mom and I have a great relationship today.  It wasn’t like that always.  We butted heads horribly when I was a know-it-all teenager.  She wanted credit for the years of experience she had and I, being a teenager, didn’t want to give her that credit.  But as I got older, I was more and more willing to listen to her wisdom and realize she just wanted to help me learn from her mistakes so I didn’t have to make them myself.  She was only looking out for me.  But not many teens have the maturity to see things that way.  Now mom and I get along very well and I love and admire her dearly.  I’m reaching an age when a lot of my friends are losing their parents and I can’t imagine not having mom to call and talk to.  I am very thankful to have her around.  I know how lucky I am.   So, Happy Birthday mama and I love you.   

Do you sometimes fear trying a new recipe, afraid it sounds very good but may end up tasting not good at all?  I know I often do.  But tonight I tried a new recipe that turned out great.  I liked it so well I was happy to have leftovers.  It was a pork chop and cabbage dish with a kind of apple cidery/vinegary sauce and very yummy.  I’ll definitely be making that one again. 

Nothing terribly exciting going on today… just a day of errands and housework, the usual.  Recently ended a relationship and I’m trying to keep myself busy.  Easier said than done, sometimes.  Why is it ending a relationship involves pain, even when it’s your idea?  Yes, that was a rhetorical question. 

I’ll preface this post with a warning.  I’m going to touch on some serious things so if the topics of death and dying make you uncomfortable, I won’t take it personally if you don’t read any further.

 I was talking with someone recently and we were discussing my career.  I made the statement that I have learned so much more from my patients than they could ever learn from me.  The person I was speaking with asked me to elaborate on that, and the rest of this post is essentially my response to that. 

My patients have taught me a very valuable lesson in priorities and what really matters… or doesn’t.  I’ll give two very good examples of that.

When you’re holding a patient’s hand as he dies and his wife of over fifty years is sitting on the other side of the bed holding his other hand and you see her pain at the loss of this incredibly large part of her life, it makes the fact you had a flat tire on the way to work and broke a fingernail just not matter at all.  (The flat tire and broken fingernail I made up for an example.  The part about the patient is true.)

When you’re sitting at the bedside of a twenty-some year old man who knows he’s going to die soon and he’s got tears in his eyes as he tells you that the only thing that makes him smile anymore is holding his toddler son, it makes the fact the hot water tank at home is broken just not important at all.  (Again, the hot water tank being broken is an example, but the part about the patient is true.) 

I’ve learned from my patients how to tell the difference between the small problems in life and the big ones.  And I’m lucky to say that all the problems in my life right now are small ones.  I thank my patients for being able to see that and appreciate that.  I will forever be grateful to each and every one of them for that lesson.   

When my sister and I were kids growing up near the beach she used to like to tell me some tall tales.  Admittedly, it was pretty funny some of the silly stuff I would actually believe.  I was really gullible.  Anyway, one year near Easter I was around 5, I think, and she told me that the Easter bunny lived at the top of this sand dune that was only a few blocks from our house.  She thought it was funny to watch me try to climb this slippery sand to get to the top of that dune to see the real live Easter bunny.  I’d get a few feet up the sand and slide back down.  And since I have my mother’s stubborn streak, I remember trying many, many times to climb that sand dune.  I never did see the Easter bunny, but shortly after Easter  I did find out there was a trail to the top of the dune I could have walked up at any time.  I don’t remember if Cindra finally told me about the trail or I discovered it.  Do you rememeber, sis?