Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 70 & 71

Yesterday's Daily 5:

  1. a smooth early morning commute
  2. being paired with a great nurse for the day
  3. a couple really funny patients
  4. studying in bed in my pjs
  5. getting off of school just a bit early
Today's Daily 5:
  1. a much more peaceful halloween day than usual
  2. exchanging a few texts with a dear friend
  3. another really good shift at the hospital
  4. venting about school with a good friend over dinner
  5. AMAZING Indian food for dinner!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 69

Today's Daily 5:

  1. My favorite seat on the bus
  2. a cozy vintage sweater (hand knit wool, formerly belonging to my dad, purchased in Ireland when he backpacked around Europe in the 70s)
  3. Christianne's Cup of Sunday quiet lectio on the bus this morning
  4. the chance to attend worship on campus
  5. a rather needed hug from a friend
  6. discovering a fun gift in the mail from a far away friend
  7. a bit of time tonight to shop
  8. that mom and dad lent me a car to save me a 30 minute walk in the cold at 5:00 tomorrow morning
  9. pumpkin snickerdoodles
  10. leftover vietnamese takeout

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 65-68

It was one of those weeks where time got away from me again, so here's a Daily 5 list for the last several days:


  1. a class that finished nice and early
  2. getting back a grade that was very gratifying
  3. an impromptu shopping trip on a break between classes
  4. an evening all to myself
  5. settling in for quiet
  6. sleeping late
  7. a restful day
  8. mixing up a batch of cookies
  9. curling up inside away from the snow
  10. a skype date with L.
  11. a skype with S.
  12. baking a bunch of pumpkin snickerdoodles
  13. a hot shower after a very stressful work shift
  14. the wonders of netflix when you just kind of need a break from thinking
  15. a mandarin orange
  16. sleeping through my quiet Sunday morning, and not feeling even sort of guilty for it
  17. Vietnamese take out with mom and dad and T & L
  18. puttering around my house, cleaning
  19. plowing through a large stack of homework reading
  20. the use of a magic bag for warmth while studying and sleeping

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 64

Today's Daily 5:

  1. a result with my fitbit that showed I was sedentary for less than 50% of my waking hours today (that makes me rather happy since it's kind of a rarity in my schedule these days)
  2. a really great patient to care for
  3. a great nurse to work with tonight
  4. that the painkillers I took to handle the aching muscles from falling yesterday actually were effective
  5. listening to a James Herriot audio book and having fond memories of childhood roadtrips

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 63

Today's Daily 5:

  1. Sleeping in
  2. that when I slipped and fell on some ice, I wasn't hurt
  3. a first time giving meds on the unit tonight
  4. being shown some unexpected grace
  5. curling up in the warmth of my bed after a very long and cold day

Monday, October 22, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 62

Today's Daily 5:

  1. a midterm that could have been so much worse
  2. the joy of standing in a hot shower after a very chilly commute home from school
  3. wearing my new winter coat, scarf and hat, and being complimented several times on how I looked today (it did my ego a bit of good to feel pretty and have it recognized!)
  4. a nice long evening phone date with a dear friend
  5. a lot of laughing over things that could definitely make a private daily 5 list for the day if I were to take the time to compose one!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 61

Today's Daily 5:

  1. sleeping late
  2. a day without ever seeing another human being (such a gift for my tired and introverted soul after several busy weeks in a row)
  3. finishing a novel that enthralled
  4. waffles and turkey bacon for supper
  5. an email with a couple photos of one of my favorite baby girls

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 60

Today's Daily 5:

  1. a little bit of flexibility in my work shift this morning
  2. spending the day in lovely company - with my dad and two missionary friends
  3. a road trip to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
  4. the crazy spectrum of Alberta weather (snowstorm and sun in the space of a couple hours)
  5. Vietnamese food

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 59

Today's Daily 5:

  1. Getting to sleep until 8 am (a lovely thing when you've been up before 6 every day so far in the week)
  2. a recognition of abundance while visiting my doctor and buying groceries
  3. an Ikea trip
  4. a day spent puttering - creating a pretty space for myself to create in
  5. late night Wendy's on the way home from a long work shift

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 58

Today's Daily 5:

  1. giggling over the weird things that nursing has caused me to consider fascinating
  2. writing (hopefully quite successfully) my first midterm of the semester
  3. mango bubble tea (sans pearls)
  4. baby grins and little boy smiles
  5. a lovely evening with friends, laughing and talking over a meal

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 56 & 57

Yesterday's Daily 5:

  1. the fact that I was introduced to the flashlight app for my iphone just days before the power was out as I got ready for the day at 5:00 am.  That flashlight app saved my butt!
  2. a great patient to work with
  3. a positive and helpful counseling session
  4. a little gift from my brother and sister-in-law
  5. funny texts with friends
Today's Daily 5:
  1. stars out in the early morning
  2. having the power on for another 5 am morning
  3. the usefulness of an iphone - letting me get stuff done on my commute
  4. cooking a healthy supper
  5. working on some organizing and settling in in my place

Monday, October 15, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 55

Today's Daily 5:

  1. handily passing a somewhat worried about nursing math test
  2. the chance to worship with other believers on campus
  3. making good progress on studying for a midterm later this week
  4. the fun of a shopping trip - spending not that much money to add some joy and life to my living space
  5. making it through a long to do list and still getting to bed at a decent time given tomorrow's very early morning alarm for clinical (4:45 am... sigh...)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 54

Today's Daily 5:

  1. Sleeping late in my own bed
  2. tackling some homework
  3. a big mug of tea
  4. a church bonfire gathering
  5. baking scones in my toaster oven, just before bed

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 53

Today's Daily 5:

  1. Being out in the sunshine for a bit this afternoon
  2. tackling several "to do's"
  3. some last minute enjoyment of quiet space before housesitting ended
  4. settling back into my own space
  5. yummy bounty purchased on my behalf south of the border
  6. magic bags
  7. air purifiers
  8. making lists
  9. tasty leftovers at two different meals today
  10. curling up in my own (still new and oh so comfortable) bed

Friday, October 12, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 52

Today's Daily 5:

  1. a zoo trip with A and my two favorite little boys
  2. funny kid moments, like M announcing that flamingos are "juicy" thus fully convincing me that his meat loving daddy has completely indoctrinated him!
  3. the warmth of baby J's body against me in the babybjorn
  4. lunch at the mall, including ice cream (mmm... waffle cone)
  5. a bit of quiet time
  6. a nice long skype date with Lyds
  7. cooking dinner for a school friend (baked brie with mango habanero jelly? yum.)
  8. an evening spent studying together for an upcoming midterm
  9. tea and cookie dough
  10. crawling into bed and reflecting on just how lovely a day this was

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 50 & 51

Yesterday's Daily 5:

  1. That I got a cold while I am housesitting and away from the additional breathing challenges of bad air in Grandma's basement
  2. laughing my way through a clinical shift
  3. a patient who was willing and excited to help us learn
  4. a nurse committed to teaching
  5. sleeping late
Today's Daily 5:
  1. my down jacket
  2. wearing one of my favorite scarves
  3. an audiobook I'm quite enjoying
  4. a quote from Kathleen Norris "Prayers were a torment, but what I knew I needed to do."
  5. the freedom of a Thursday evening with no commitments

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 49

Today's Daily 5:

  1. a restful sleep
  2. waking up with much dissipated cold symptoms
  3. sharing tea and laughter with a good friend
  4. a really great clinical shift
  5. the chance to share a bit of my history with depression and anxiety - to hopefully break down the stigma, and increase the awareness of other future nurses

Monday, October 08, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 45-48

Day 45:
  1. a lazy day
  2. skype date with a faraway friend
  3. enjoying the benefits of housesitting
  4. an afternoon nap
  5. really tasty tortellini for dinner
Day 46:
  1. super lazy day as I began to battle a cold
  2. nap after nap
  3. browsing in Michaels
  4. a long bubble bath
  5. falling into bed after a long and frustrating work shift
Day 47:
  1. going to the mountains with a friend from school
  2. watching the fun her "babies" (two labs) had playing in the snow
  3. mountain scenery
  4. wide-ranging conversation
  5. being fed Thanksgiving leftovers
Day 48:
  1. the beauty of a long weekend especially since I have Friday's off this semester
  2. taking the day at a lazy pace, to really start to recover from this cold
  3. fresh French bread
  4. strawberries
  5. cookie dough dip

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 44

Today's Daily 5:

  1. Dozing on the bus, wrapped in a toque and my comfy down jacket, in the darkness of an early morning
  2. a lecturer with a British accent and a great sense of humor
  3. an off campus field trip with a couple of friends
  4. conversations about Jesus, and healing, and faith, and life
  5. introducing someone to the laughter that is "New Girl"
  6. http://whatshouldwecallnursingschool.tumblr.com/
  7. berry white chocolate scones from Good Earth Cafe
  8. cuddles with baby J.
  9. some reasons to laugh
  10. a lovely last gathering of house church
  11. raspberry jello
  12. a goodnight hug and kiss from M.
  13. the feeling of crawling into my own bed at the end of a very long day/week
  14. new connections
  15. entering a new season

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 5, Day 43

Today's Daily 5:

  1. that it waited to start snowing until after I arrived at the hospital early this morning
  2. a really interesting patient for the day
  3. the clinical nurse educator who sent me down to observe two procedures for my patient
  4. easy access to a shower after a day at the hospital that left me feeling desperate for one
  5. steak dinner out with a good friend

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Day 42

Today's Daily 5:

  1. housesitting meaning that my early morning hospital shift was a little bit easier commute
  2. resting into the prayers of friends as I faced a daunting day
  3. an early morning moon
  4. a cozy hoodie
  5. the smell of rain
  6. new experiences, always new experiences at the hospital
  7. a meeting that went differently (better) than expected
  8. Jason Upton playing through my headphones as I took the train home
  9. the beauty of a shower any time I want one (thank you housesitting)
  10. being able to prioritize my own needs a little bit more clearly

Monday, October 01, 2012

Daily 5 - Year 4, Days 35 - 41

Life has been just a little bit crazy over the last week or so, and I've just not made it here to record my daily 5, though I've certainly been aware of those moments that would make the list as the time has passed.  However, since I managed to forget to even write them down in my journal, I'm here to give you a highlights list for days 35 through 41 of Year 4.

  1. Coffee with my friend K and the encouragement he offered
  2. a skype date/book discussion with S.
  3. a yoga class that ended up being held outside
  4. hugging my favorite little boys
  5. a skype date with Lyds - so good to chat with my bestest friend for a couple hours, after a couple of particularly trying days
  6. having the support of a number of dear friends as I've been wrestling through some faith and life issues
  7. the overwhelming sense of being "not alone"
  8. enjoying my nursing practicums
  9. the advice my friend Karla gave me in a phone call.
  10. a phone date with K and baby A in Florida
  11. worship at the university on mondays
  12. Instagram photos
  13. listening to podcasts on the bus in the mornings
  14. listening to audiobooks on my afternoon transit commutes
  15. some really fascinating patients
  16. books that are challenging my heart
  17. slowly figuring out rhythms for this season of life
  18. nurses who have been really great teachers
  19. finding the right resources to make studying go a bit more smoothly
  20. 93% on my first nursing math test!
  21. working with friends on assignments
  22. vietnamese take out
  23. the anticipation of a quieter weekend coming up
  24. housesitting for the next couple weeks
  25. a long hot shower after a really frustrating work shift last weekend