Tip top breakfast for a Nurse!

As you are aware (if you read this blog at all), 

I am a nurse who works looooonnnnnnng shifts. 

I am at the hospital from 0700-1945ish every day. 

That's a long day. 

In the morning, I wake up and try to eat something for 

breakfast because one thing floor nurses DON"T do is take a 

lunch at 1200 everyday like most normal people. 

We take lunch when we have a spare 30 minutes... which sometimes

doesn't happen until 3pm. That's a long time to wait to eat

when you are dealing with sick people and running your

butt off all morning. 

My favorite breakfast is these oatmeal muffins I make out

of bananas, oatmeal, and other ingredients. 

They are really filling, and perfect to pop in a baggie to stash

somewhere in the unit kitchen when I need a snack. 

I take three overripe bananas and mash them with a potato masher 

until they are pulverized in a large bowl. 

I add a cup of vanilla almond or soy milk, 2 eggs, 

a tablespoon of baking powder, 3 cups of rolled oats, 

1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. 

Preheat the oven to 375, mix all ingredients together, 

and line a cupcake tin with liners. 

I spoon enough of the mix to the top of the liners, and then bake for 25 minutes. 

Once they are browned on the tops and firm to the touch, they are done. 

It makes from 13-15 muffins. 

Once they cool down they are easy to remove from the cupcake liners :) 

These are one of the best recipes I have found when it comes to needing

a filling breakfast... they also can be stuffed in your mouth while on the way to work :) 

Summer is slipping away

The days are slipping away this summer! I am not sure why 

time seems to go so quickly... 

The past week or so I have been busy working (of course). 

That's most likely why time seems to go fast... because 

most of it spent being an adult and working!!! 

I am actually starting to really get in the 

groove of things at work. 

My assessments are not taking forever, med passes are

going quicker, and it's becoming easier to 

see the whole clinical picture. 

To let off some steam last week, a co-worker and I decided

to go for a paddle down the Verde River. 

It was a fun day; it involved too many Blue Moons, a lost paddle, 

a 911 call, lashing two kayaks together, missing car keys,

a ride from a good samaritan, and

lots of hilarious photos. 

The view from where we beached the boats for a break

The photo we sent to a concerned co-worker, Kevin, after telling

him he may need to be our designated driver.

A visit

A couple days ago I went to the cemetery to 

visit my dad's grave. 

After he died, I put flowers there for Fathers Day, 

and then didn't go back for several months. 

I'm not sure why I avoided going exactly... I think 

mainly because I knew it would 

be so painful, and I was trying so 

hard at that time to just keep it together. 

I was trying hard to not cry so much all the time. 

Later, I felt enormous guilt for not going more often. 

I didn't want to be rude towards my dad for 

not visiting his grave... I had

this irrational guilt that I was being hurtful to him

by not visiting. 

Anyway, I try to go more often now. I 

go and anticipate I will cry a lot and 

generally feel terribly sad and hollow for 

the rest of the day. 

The other day was no different, except maybe

that a sticker got in my flip flop and 

I cursed VERY loudly and creatively. 

I brought yellow sunflowers for my dad, 

because as far as flowers go, they were the manliest

type available at the Safeway. 

I will go back again soon... 

I don't feel any closer to my dad being there, 

but it is nice to have an area with

some type of physical memorial to him. 

A place to lay sunflowers, 

a place to visit.