Friday Morning Musings.

Really it's afternoon now, but I'm still sipping coffee and watching Gilmore Girls, so it might as well be morning.  And in a truer sense, it's bedtime since I'm going to be working tonight (and all weekend!), but I'll still say that it's Friday morning in this sunny corner of our apartment.

I haven't written in SO long.  This is for many reasons.  I was traveling at the beginning of the month (DC! I loved it), and when I returned, my computer was in a shop getting fixed (where it still currently resides), so I've been spending a lot of time away from the computer lately.  Now, I'm using Scott's loaner computer (the Davises are having MAJOR technology issues this month.  We are not winning at this game) which feels very alien to me.  The keys are a little more stubborn when I press down on them and I don't feel the same easy flow when I write from it, but I suppose it'll do for now.
There is nothing important coming from this post except a little check-in to say hello and to share a few things that have been going on lately.  Of course you'll get more updates once I get my computer back, and hopefully I'll have moved past my stretch of overtime and working 5 nights in a row and I'll be ready to be human again!

Life lately

-Purchasing books for grad school.  Talk about feeling like you don't belong somewhere.  I think I understand how the adult students felt at UNC in my nursing school class now.  I walked into the IUPUI bookstore to purchase a textbook and felt overwhelmed by not knowing where things were and not knowing the process of using my Jagtag (I don't even have one yet?) and not knowing where you're allowed to park.  And I thought back to my undergrad days and how I never understood how the older students couldn't make sense of UNC's processes and policies and all of that jazz.  Now I get it.  I'm the newcomer in a foreign place and will have to be ok with looking lost and not understanding things for a good little while.

-Visiting DC. I met my friends Shannon and Claire in DC at the beginning of the month and had such a very lovely time; I had missed the easy flow of conversation with good friends, the comfort of being in the midst of people who get you and who know the very innermost parts of who you are and who don't judge you for it.  DC was enchanting for me; I hadn't been since I was in elementary school and had very little memory of time spent there, but I adored it this time around.  Shannon gave us the insider's perspective on local eateries, great bookstores, and all of the neighborhoods surrounding DC.  I especially loved Georgetown and Dupont Circle and will be SURE to visit those places when I go back someday!

-Reading lots of books. Including, but not limited to: The Girl on the Train (A MUST-READ!), Landline (so far, so good), anything by Liane Moriarty (currently: The Hypnotist's Love Story and What Alice Forgot), The Book of Unknown Americans (good but made me want to cry constantly), Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (read his other books as well), and A Fall of Marigolds (very cute but made me sad!).  Mariah and I are making our way through this list for 2015 and seem to be almost finished with it (Mariah is almost finished.. I am still on long waiting lists at the library for the books), so we are thinking of creating a 2nd list for the year.  Any suggestions?  I'm wanting to add Bossypants and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? as our fun reads.  If you want to keep up with what I'm reading at all times, check out my Goodreads account.  Also, I skipped book goals for April because I knew it would be a busy month, I ended up finishing two books which I'm quite pleased with.  One year ago Cristina wouldn't have even read ten pages of a book (not because of a dislike for reading but for a lack of prioritization in her life!)

-Working a lot of overtime. With school coming so quickly and with realizing that I will be paying for a lot of school out of my own pocket, I've picked up quite a bit of overtime in an attempt to  put some money aside for tuition.  Between overtime and required classes/training at work, Scott jokes that he rarely sees me, but we have a nice agreement that the overtime will end in June.  Because in July...

>>DAY SHIFT! After a long year of night shift, I'll be switching to days in July.  The decision was so bittersweet for me; I love my night shift friends but also want to feel like a normal human again.  No matter what I have tried for myself, I can't seem to feel like a normal human on nights.  I'm picking up a bit of day shift overtime so I can get my feet wet with how day shift operates, and so far I am thankful for kind people who help me navigate through the uncertainty of how day shift operates on 5 South.  Day shift on 3 West in NC would be old hat for me, but learning how things work in a new place is tricky, even if you're familiar with the charting and the people.  There's new processes to learn on a new shift.  I am excited for the change and the chance to try something new, especially while being in school.  I don't see how I'd do nights and school, but somehow people do it every day.  For me, I think day shift will be better for my class schedule.

That's really all for now.  I just wanted to check in to say hi, and also to drop a few little updates.  On another note: anyone been to California/have travel tips? I'm trying to plan the trip Scott and I will be taking for a friend's wedding in LA in June, and we just can't quite decide how to split up the trip! We'll be in LA for a few days but are hoping to roadtrip to San Francisco and San Diego while there.  Any other places we should see?

Lots of love, sweet friends.

Cristina