Wednesday, January 2, 2019

That Part Where Life Happens Unaware


I figured I should probably give an update on what's gone on the past year or so to give some context with where I'm headed.  So here's some of the highlights.

Job
I was working at a nursing home here in town as a health unit coordinator and I did that for about a year and a half, but after crazy hours, stress, and just worn out feeling, I decided to go back to the hospital where I had worked prior.  It feels weird to be back in the same place I left about two years ago.  I'm working as a HUC and CNA.  Mostly CNA.  And mostly on overnights, which is a new "adventure" for me.  When I took the job, I was told there'd be "some" nights.  I was thinking about two a week, but in reality it's been mostly nights with a few PM shifts here and there.  I'm not a night person.  I'm normally in bed by 11pm, so it's been weird to be going to work at that time.  I've gotten better about napping during the day and sleeping longer when I get home from a night shift.  (When I started, I was lucky if I could make it till noon before waking up, now I can go till about 2pm.)  But, as soon as I have more than one day off, my body kicks back to an awake during the day, asleep at night schedule.  I don't hate it, but it's definitely not something I would have chosen.  But, shift differential pay is nice and nights are either pretty mellow or pretty busy.  There seems to be no middle ground.

School
I wasn't a CNA until about 6 months ago.  There was such a shortage of nursing home CNAs that the state of Wisconsin would pay for your schooling if you agreed to work in a nursing home for six months afterwards.  I really had no intention of going anywhere, but the stress got to me, so I left after my six months to return to the hospital.  But, my instructor for the CNA program encouraged me to look into nursing, and I had been pondering it too, so I started with summer school to take a couple classes, took two more this fall, have two this upcoming spring semester, and then I should enter core nursing in the fall of 2019.  I have lots of feelings about this and I'm not sure they're entirely trustworthy, so I won't get into it here and now, but it is a new adventure of sorts, that's for sure.

Health
Weird work schedules and stress have not been kind to my body.  I'm the heaviest I've been- ever!  And I have heartburn a lot, foot problems, and other problems that could be solved if I could get the weight off.  Which I intend to do this year.  It's an urgent problem that needs to be dealt with because if I don't set up good health habits now, by the time I'm in school full time in the fall, it's only going to get worse.  I have a plan and I feel optimistic. 

On the mental health side, my depression has been pretty much kept at bay so far this year.  I feel like I do much better if I keep busy and feel like I have some control over life, so here's hoping.  It's been almost a year that I've been off my antidepressants, which feels amazing some days and foolish others.

Family
Ah family.  My husband is still working the same job.  He's got some health issues too, but we're dealing well enough.  My dad recovered from his heart attack last winter, but had back surgery around Thanksgiving.  I guess he's recovering well from that too.  My mom and brother are both doing fairly well.  We all got together for Christmas which was nice, even if I had only gotten a couple hours of sleep beforehand.


Hobbies
Well, with going back to school, I had to make some adjustments.  My reading time has been limited, and my sewing time was pretty much nonexistent.  So, I moved my sewing related things- fabric, notions, patterns, etc. down to the basement or packed up into the closet in my office.  It was sad, but also liberating, because not having the table and machine set up in my office made much more room and it was nice not to be reminded of the half finished projects waiting for me everywhere.  I fully intend to get back to sewing some day, but a this time in my life, it just really isn't going to happen. 

I do want to get back to writing more regularly.  And, since winter break runs until January 21, I'm trying to get a lot of reading done, and get my currently reading list back down to just a few books.

As far as traveling goes, it seems I never get to do as much as I want.  I did get to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which I feel like is where I belong.  A friend and I went for a couple days and we had a great time.  I rented an apartment with AirBNB and we were a block from a Mexican restaurant, a couple blocks from a used bookstore, and a coffee shop was about a block the other way.  So basically, everything my little heart needed was within walking distance. The area had horrible flooding while we were there, and it was very weird driving home.  We stopped at Bond Falls, which is normally a nice peaceful, but large waterfall.   This time it was roaring.  Water was running down the steps and it just felt angry.  But still beautiful. 

So that's the gist of the last  year.  Nothing too remarkable, but looking forward to more adventures in 2019.


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