July.

July is here. This equals an abundance of fresh fruit and freckles. I am become more and more tan (yes, TAN) by the week. And fruit is finding its way to our dining room table by the boxful. My dad brought home a 10 lb-ish box of apricots the other day. I spent the evening sorting through them and halving the good ones for the dehydrater. YUM. 

Finished my two-week long orientation at MultiCare this past week. Learned alot of stuff that was "review." Blood glucose checks, patient charting on Epic, infection control. This is what I give thousands of dollars to SPU to learn. But I didn't mind the review. I was getting paid . . . and it was indeed a "review." 

Experienced the evening shift for the first time. 1500-2330 is so completely different than 0700-1530. Much more chill. No PT, OT, and RT, less MDs and procedures, and lots of patients sleeping. This "chillness" equals good for me; a nurse tech floating between 16 different departments. Don't get me wrong, I welcome the opportunity to experience different areas. At the same time, it is extremely hard to really know what you're doing when you're on 6K (pediatric med/surg) on one day and then the CVICU (cardiovascular ICU) the next. I just pray for understanding RNs each shift. I almost wish my ID badge said: "Hello, I'm Erin Arkin. I'm a nursing student with only 30 weeks of clinical experience. I know all about total hip precautions, how to hook a patient up to a portable tele and SCDs, and how to give IMs and blood transfusions, but please don't ask me to put in a foley or IV on a coherent patient. I also most likely do not know where the soiled utility room is. Thank you." Alas, no. Instead I fumble my way through eight hours of a "learning experience."

Note of the Day: No, I haven't seen HP yet.

It's Friday.

Goodbye, bum-life.  

I start work on Monday. My two weeks of unemployment (minus 3 days of working at the Y) are ending.

So, it's Friday. I just woke up from a nap, am about to make PIZZA, and then good evening Tacoma. Waterfront with friends. I guess I'm not much of a bum after all.

Note of the Day: 85 degrees is hot enough for me.

6.30.09

Hiked up Rattlesnake Ridge in North Bend with Sara on Tuesday. You won't get a better pay-off view after only 2 miles of hiking. It was an absolute perfect 70 degrees out. We left Tacoma at 8:30am, started hiking at 10am, and were back on the road at noon. Perfect.

Note of the Day: I really can't think of anything better than going into your backyard when your hungry and picking raspberries for a snack. I love July.

Recently.

Recently read: "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Pajamas)," by John Boyne. This book is a short read. After watching the movie a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to read the book. I highly recommend it. Despite the times during both the book and film that I literally felt sick with anger and disgust, the perspective of this book, that of a nine year old German boy, makes this story a WWII allegory like no other.

Recently watched: "Away We Go," directed by Sam Mendes. As a devoted John Krasinski fan, I enjoyed this film. And it made me very aware of the fact that I will still be able to wear at least 3/4 of my wardrobe when I become pregnant.

Recently went: Proctor Farmer's Market (corn empanadas are worth the trip) and the Whole Foods on Westlake. I love this store. While having many ridiculous and overpriced items, I find myself in a trance of wanting to buy everything and can spend at least 10 minutes just looking at their fresh sushi. I went up to Seattle to nanny Nicholas last Saturday evening and stopped by Whole Foods to pick up my dad's favorite Tree Sister's graham cracker cereal. I gave myself more than enough travel time coming from Tacoma and found myself with time to kill before heading over to Interbay. That's ok. I spent my time comparing the many komboucha brands and finding the perfect container of melon and strawberries to purchase.

Recently want: Due to the fact that the ends of my hair are getting lighter and lighter (most likely a sign to give my hair a trim), I have been wanting to "lighten" my entire head. Pros: becoming the redhead I was in junior high. Cons: Ruining my virgin hair. We'll see what wins.

Note of the Day: Had my first valet experience today. I could get used to that.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free

My poor little sister.

I've grown up eating rather strange food. I remember being  10 years old and mistaking my dad's home-grown (RAW!) komboucha for apple juice. Just a little terrifying due to the fact that my dad referred to his growing komboucha as an "animal." Now our fridge is packed with GT's bottled komboucha. Still raw, but much easier to take now that it's paired with guava, citrus, and gingerberry. You'll find soy in at least 11 different forms, herbs my dad claims are edible, items literally crawling due to the amount of fiber they contain, bottles upon bottles of Naked juices, and every dairy item you can imagine sitting opposite their soy or rice counterpart. 

My dad has been a vegetarian for the past 11 years, and spent at least 3 of them being completely vegan. My mother and I are the only "dairy-eaters" of the family. Joelle and Laura are lactose intolerant (there's our Jewish/Middle Eastern heritage for you) and my dad eats very limited amounts of dairy due to his allotted daily fat intake (there's his chronic pancreatitis for you). Thus, our fridge carries a multiplicity of items. I did not think our fridge could hold stranger, more variable items. Until now . . . 

My poor little sister. For the past two years, Laura has complained of "not feeling well" at random times. She eliminated dairy from her diet, which alleviated some of the problems. She began eating a dairy-free AND gluten-free diet two and a half weeks ago, and is now symptom free. Poor Laura. She has been living off of bananas, chicken, juice, and craisins. Until now. We are now headed full force into providing little Laura with various gluten-free options. Tapioca loaf, brown rice bread, corn cereals. The list goes on. I made soy and corn nachos for her before she left for work, and from the empty plate left in the kitchen, I think they were a hit. I'm in the process of making chocolate (gluten-free!), peanut butter, oatmeal cookies for her, without milk or butter. They'll be good . . . . I just know it.

Laura is feeling much, much better and now our fridge could be the poster-child for Marlene's, Whole Foods, MacGregor's, Tacoma Boys, and the Tacoma Farmer's Market. The only downside: I now finally have another competitive fruit eater in the house. I'm going to have to start hiding my nectarines.

Note of the Day: Walking to the 72nd street Starbucks is not the same as walking to Cafe Fiore by Kerry Park on QA.

bum.

I am currently a bum. Good? I say yes.

I found out that I don't start my job at TG until July 6th. At first I was a little bummed . . . I'm a big fan of making money. Bum-life, AKA doing whatever the heck I want, is my alternative. $2 a day for coffee, one tank of gas, my running shoes, and TIME. Time to be a bum. Like today. Woke up sleep deprived because I wanted to. Coffee, sneaked some of my dad's precious Whole Food's graham cracker cereal, and headed out the door to the Y. Saw LJ for the first time in 9 months. Made my day. For LJ, I would add an extra $5 to my daily budget to hang out with him on a Friday night. Sweated through one t-shirt. I know; gross. Home. Raided my fridge, literally tossing things into a pan as I came across them. Chicken, bell pepper, bean sprouts, green onion, peas, shredded broccoli, tomato, and cilantro. Weird? I say no. 

Now. Off to Puyallup to hang out with an old bud, spend my $2 on coffee, and try to break in some new boots I just got from Urban. UrbanXchange, that is. Went through my closets the other day and lugged down a couple bags of clothes. $70 of credit later, I'm a happy camper.

Tonight. Earning domestic points by making  lemon chiffon pie for my dad for Father's Day. Sweet? I say yes.

Note of the Day: Want to see "The Brother's Bloom" soon? Call me.

Chacos on my feet.

Chacos on my feet, timbuk2 on my back, shades on my eyes, hair down my back; looking out over Magnolia Hill. There's a beautiful spot, if you walk out of the Ashton parking lot and continue straight for about 1/2 a mile, where you can look out over Interbay, Elliot Bay, and the road that goes straigt up Magnolia Hill. I shudder to remember running up that hill 3 years ago during land training. I absolutely love this spot. I walk it everytime I go see Nicholas.

Nicholas is now a two-year old. He communicates well for using only the words "num num" (milk), "ice" (water), "mommy," "daddy," "doggie," "buh bye," and "no." He loves to sit on my lap and read Dr. Seuss, watch Curious George, and listen to me sing "Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car." I gave him a mohawk today. After dumping his bowl of chocolate yogurt on his head, I washed out his hair and couldn't help giving him a chic style. I am not biased when I say he is one of the most prescious little kids I've seen. Maybe just a little biased . . . especially when he calls me "E." A highlight of my weekend.

Weekend(s) have seemed to daunting to me. And lonely. I went for a 5 mile run in the sun this morning, grabbed coffee with a best friend, and studied for not long enough. Still, for some reason, I've still felt so alone. I want to be home home. In my room, watching Laura text on her bed while listening to Ne-Yo. Or at the dining room table, listening to Joelle debate about theological doctrine with my mom. Or in the living room, watching my dad fall asleep in his chair with one of his Whole Foods suckers still in his mouth. Or in the backyard, by myself, listening to Ravi Shankar on the patio with patchouli incense. The summer will come soon enough, and I'll most likely find myself longing for my life back in Seattle, minus school, stress, and nights of duty.

Duty is where I'm at right now. Listening to African jimbays, eating a cranberry scone the lovely Miss Jessica Taylor made for me, and not looking forward to the 4 hours of studying that must happen. The first of my final four nights of duty in Ashton Hall. On to Emerson.

Emerson will be an adventure. One that is sure to be full of joy, stress, laughter, and tears. Joy and laughter from spending another year as a PA, surrounded by absolutely beautiful people. Stress and tears from three days of clinical a week, and fighting the fear of being a senior nursing major in the res halls. Still a little scared. But working on it.

It, turning into the studying that I must now do.

Note of the Day: If I could eat anything right now, it would be pita, hummus, falafel, and tahini sauch. Or a spicy tuna roll. Or a raspberry pear bubble tea. Or a ginormous bowl of pudding.