Flyin Solo

I technically have one week left of my 3 month orientation but I am on call tonight for the first time off buddy call. Never alone but I'm so full of anxiety. Without my usual sleep aids, I'm taking this opportunity to accomplish something this evening before I attempt to get some sleep. I took buddy call Friday night but nothing happened...I wanted to get called in at least one more time, but, alas, such is life. I went to the beach earlier today and learned pretty quickly as I got home that I would have to go in and help with late running rooms. Got a quick shower and ate half my grinder just as a bad thunder storm was rolling in. My grill almost blew off my deck and I seemed to follow the storm as I drove to the hospital...lightning striking so close. I love but am a little scared of summer thunderstorms.

I had the long July 4th weekend off (could have taken call with my preceptor, but I politely declined thankfully). Dayna and I went down to Hampton Beach on the 3rd to see a Sublime tribute band named Badfish. Concert was good but the crowd was a little rowdy and irritatingly young. Maybe I'm just getting old. We had dinner, bought some clothing souvenirs, beached it a little bit, and looked at sand sculptures. Denise and Eric had a cookout at their house Sunday. Good times.

The following weekend was pretty low key. After work Friday, Dayna and I went to Ctown to check out a reggae band playing at New Socials. They were good...I wish the turnout had been better. I guess there's not much of a reggae fan base in town. The next day, Jeff, Heather, Mom and I met for dinner at Molly's then headed over to the Hop to see a screening of Ken Burns' work in progress on the Vietnam War. It was very powerful. Sucked me right in. It's really sad that we have to wait until the Fall of 2017 to see the final product.

My first of two summer vacations (never had that before) began at 7 am on the 18th. Hung out with Ashley Saturday night. Tues, I had a couple appointments then went to the beach to hang out with H and S. I had my first regular eye appointment Wed. morning since I got my eyes lasered (not counting all the follow-up appointments post procedure). Thurs. morning, I dropped off Xander and went to get my hair chopped. Had been growing it out but decided not to anymore because it's U.G.L.Y. I left for Maine Friday morning and got there a little after noon as I took a little detour because I missed 295 trying to deal with the drama unfolding between Xander and Roger. Dayna saved me by going to get Xander and keeping him at her apartment until Sunday afternoon. He wasn't bloodthirsty (I'm still shocked that I'm using that term in reference to my sweet, fluffy, little boy) towards the girls. Maine was fun. We did the usual activities. Kittery outlet shopping and a beer after lunch Friday. Breakfast at Mae's and boating on Saturday. I never realized how racist Maine can be and how delicious local IPA is...lol. Sunday, we spent time in Kittery at L.L. Bean before I began the longer than usual journey home due to traffic and an accident on 95. Some white trash dude with his baby momma and kid in the car pissed me off near Concord so I called it in as a drunk driver. I f**king hope he got pulled over. I've never done that before. It's fun to be angry sometimes. Anyways. I grabbed my attack cat and finally landed at home to relax and get some sleep before my last day of vaca.

First day back was a little rough, running on 2 hours of sleep. Insomnia strikes again...or maybe a part of me I never thought existed woke up out of a deep slumber? Weird. Work is going ok...coming off orientation is never easy but I think this will be the easiest of the four nursing jobs I've had. I gew so accustomed to being comfortable in the OR that I kind of forgot how difficult the first year was. The things you take for granted. I hope tonight is the most anxiety I'll ever have and that each subsequent shift will become slightly easier. Is it so much to ask to not be yelled at?

This past Saturday, I dragged Dayna to see Deftones and Incubus at Meadowbrook. Had dinner at Patrick's and was waiting in line at Sawyer's to get a frappe when I was kindly informed by Faith that Deftones had already been playing for a while. FML. I've never done that before nor did I ever consider the possibility that they'd start before 8. What the hell. The rest of the concert was awesome. Stage front pit. Eli and his gf were there. Met up with Faith. We ran into a Biomet rep. Chino got down into the crowd and got pretty close to us at one point...freakin awesome. I took a video. I tried to get closer but there were too many. I drew some solace out of the McFlurry at the end of the night. As much as I love me some reggae, it was nice to go to a good ole' rock concert...where it all started <3 p="">
So, my half marathon training has kind of stopped. I got up to 6 miles and I could feel my knees at that point. I guess I just don't want it bad enough. I'm running 4 miles sporadically now and will incorporate yoga, the elliptical, and bike rides (I bought a sweet bike while I was on vaca!) wherever I see fit. I'm active but it's nice not to have to follow a training schedule (not like I was doing awesome to begin with). I need to focus more on enjoying myself more outside of work anyways...like possibly going to Brooklyn in Sept. to see Tribal Seeds? Yes, puhlease. And, of course, taking advantage of my favorite season while it lasts. On that note, I'm going to try to get some sleep so I can play badminton after work tomorrow.