work, school, and chickens.

I really shouldn’t be blogging right now. But so much has been happening over the past few weeks, and I’m pretty sure if I wait for a day where I can “find time” to blog, it may be June before I return here. So. I am going to give you a real quick rundown of what’s been happening around these parts lately.

First big piece of news: I quit my job at Northwestern. And let me tell you. IT FEELS GOOD. Leaving was a little bittersweet, because I really worked with some great people there, enjoyed my patients, and had a lot of autonomy in a setting I knew very well. Instead, I am now working at an agency, which means I spend my shifts working in different ICUs across Chicago. Why the switch? Many reasons, including increased flexibility and a 90% pay increase (maximizing my limited hours working). I think the best part of quitting my job at Northwestern was just taking something off my plate. My working hours haven’t decreased (in fact, they’ve increased), but for at least a few days, I was able to tell myself, “BREATHE. ONE LESS THING TAKING UP PRECIOUS MENTAL SPACE.”

School is TRYING TO CONSUME MY LIFE. I suppose that’s appropriate, considering I plan to graduate with a masters next summer. A few weeks ago, I pulled my first grad school all nighter (impressive, actually, considering it’s my third quarter) and spent every other day of that week sleeping an average of five to six hours. I remember telling myself, “I just have to get through these three exams, this research paper, and these two projects, and I’ll be able to breathe again.” When the madness of that week was finally over, I realized I had another two weeks of exams, projects, and NOT A LOT OF SLEEP ahead. Shoot. So it began to look like there was going to be no break before the end of the quarter in five weeks. And since that realization I’ve come to discover three things:

1. I DESPERATELY WANT A TROPICAL VACATION.

2. EVERY WEEK IS FINALS WEEK.

3. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO JUST ACT LIKE YOU’RE ON VACATION WHEN YOU ARE SO NOT ON VACATION.

And so. This weekend, before my week of two more major exams and project deadlines looming closely, I acted like I was on vacation. Because WEDNESDAY I WORKED 14 HOURS, THURSDAY was HAVE-YOUR-NEAR-PANIC-ATTACK-DAY, as always, and FRIDAY I had to go to the doctor to get a CAMERA STUCK UP MY NOSE. So yeah, I thought this seemed like a good weekend for a vacation.

It was lovely. Friday evening I actually SAW my husband. Woot! Saturday a bunch of KICK A. women from my church came to my house to eat quiche and drink mimosas and RELAX together. It was the best. Then I hung out with my husband AGAIN (what!). We made dinner and watched A WEBISODE that night. YES! Sunday, after all the regular lovely things we get to do from 8am to 2pm, WE GOT CHICKENS. REAL. LIVE. FLUFFY. EGG-LAYING CHICKENS. Here’s one:

They’re silkies (you can read about them on wikipedia), a little over one year old. And let me tell you. They are a HOOT. I feel like such a farm person. Trudging through the mud in our backyard making it chicken-ready was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Ok. Well I should really get off to studying for these exams. UNTIL NEXT TIME.

Meet William

This is Will.

He’s an eight-month-old Yorkshire Terrier from Michigan. Missouri, actually. He came from a puppy mill there. When the man running the breeding facility became ill, William was taken into the care of the breeder’s family members. After the man died, Will was sent to a rescue organization and put into foster care.

We named him William after William Wilberforce, an independent member of Parliament for Yorkshire in the late 1700′s and the man who played an instrumental role in the abolition of slavery in most of the British empire.

We drove all the way to Michigan for this little fox. (Notice his resemblance to the Fantastic Mr. Fox; we almost named him after Fox’s son, Ash.) He’s doing well so far, although–being a rescue dog–it’s going to take him a while to be comfortable and well-socialized. We love him dearly already and are excited to have him around. Just thought you’d like to hear a bit about the newest member of the Junior Mann clan.

meet Flan

She’s the nicest kitten I’ve ever known. And I mean I’m a kitten foster parent; I’ve seen kittens. She’s great.

I mean look at her.

She just came up here and sat on me like that. On her own initiative. Nice work, Flan. You get the pretty-much-everything-I’ve-ever-wanted-in-a-kitten award.

The thing is, Flan (or Flannery, which is her full name, in case you’re wondering what kind of an absurd name for a cat Flan is) is not supposed to be ours for keeps. But she just won’t get adopted. She’s been to two adoption fairs with no takers because she freaks. out. (There’s a very real chance she’s trying to sabotage the adoption process.) Her little kitten bio is on the website, but no one has called and I have a sneaking suspicion it’s due to the warning about her “neurological disorder.”

See, she came to us as a bit of a special needs cat. Her back legs weren’t working quite right, which apparently means she had some neuro thing. But her legs are fine now and aside from the fact that her meows only make noise when she’s out of sight, she’s perfectly normal.

Wow. It seems as though this blog post has taken a surprisingly sharp turn for boring. Well, you can admire Flan up there. Heck, call me if you know someone who wants a stellar kitten.

Lepidoptery and Lovely Fridays

Good news. You’re about to read an especially upbeat blog post. Quite a contrast from the last I think you’ll find, thankfully. Why? I suppose it’s because I’m in an especially pleasant mood. Oh–but before we go any further, I should tell you upfront that, while this is a good-mood post, it is not a premeditated post… and you know how that can be.

Well. It’s Friday. 4:53pm on Friday, to be exact, and my husband and I are in a cool and inviting Barnes and Noble. There’s a grande iced Carmel Macchiato (only 1 shot of espresso, if you please) in my belly and the Manual of Perioperative Care in Adult Cardiac Surgery in my lap. Since seeking out mainstream air-conditioned places to congregate requires a trip to Glendale, we of course had to stop in our favorite store to exchange some knobs for these:

and to pick up this month’s incentive/reward for meeting my quantitative goal:

I was supposed to work night shift this evening as well as tomorrow night but one of my preceptors called in sick so instead I’m working the day shift on Saturday like a normal human being.

All this lead to a lovely Friday at Barnes and Noble with Jeremy. Jeremy, by the way, has been looking through books here related to his new hobby (“life calling” is maybe a more appropriate term). He’s becoming a lepidopterist. I plan to become one as well, although he is blazing the trail first for the rest of the family. You’re probably wondering what the hey a lepidopterist is. These are the people that study, find, catch, and travel far and wide in search of rare (and common, of course) species of butterflies. Jeremy’s goal is to eventually have an office filled with cases of butterflies from all over the world. (You can apparently buy these pre-made, but what’s the fun in having them if you haven’t made them yourself, right?)

The only other recent news is that we sold the Schwinn so I’m officially on the hunt for an Erin-sized road bike. For those of you wondering, Monica Flannery is getting along just fine here. Her legs even appear to be getting better (no progress on the druling problem, unfortunately).

oops

Today Jeremy and I had to rename one of our kittens. Ingrid is now Lars because–oops– “she’s” just not much of a she at all. We wondered about her less-than-girlish figure along with her piggish appetite and now it all makes a little more sense. Still, what a terrible mistake. I hope we haven’t scarred her for life.

I have to make a public apology here for this mistake as well as the extremely womanish picture of her shown below (from which we actually nicknamed her Mary Magdalene). Sorry Ingrid. Lars. And all feline friends who have been misnamed and misgendered before.

for now

Well, folks. I’m graduated. It’s official: I have a BSN. Conferred. Tassle on the left. Diploma mail order form received. Done.

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything reflective or inspiring to say about it yet. So here, meet my kitten Ingrid (affectionately known as Mary Magdalene):

That’s her in all her post-bath glory. There are three others: Echo, Yoko, and Michael Jackson. Our most recent foster dears, they’re about four and a half weeks by now. Cute. A little funny, and also cute.

goodbye, friend

Well, we did it today. Today we said goodbye to our first feline friend. (For those of you who don’t know, Jeremy and I are kitten foster parents through the Burbank Animal Shelter.) His name was Diego. He was quite literally the sweetest cat I have ever met. Our house feels pretty quiet without him. Jeremy and I took a nap this afternoon, and I’ve gotta say it was lonely for us not having little paws crawling all over the bed.

I guess I knew it would be sad to fall in love with kitties and then give them away. I’m still glad we’re doing this, though. I guess this is a tribute to our Diego. May he live forever! (I think I’ve been reading too much Daniel. Or just a lot.)