kayaking

I grew up kayaking on tranquil lakes and rivers but developed a taste for brutal oceanic waters when I lived in Washington.  It was a thrill to paddle furiously trying to conquer waves that tossed you like leaves in a tornado. I loved the push, dizzy unpredictability of which direction you'll be facing next and the necessary hyper-awareness of the balance of your boat. One tiny off-center moment could result in a dunking. 

Yesterday's excursion through a marshy nature preserve was a relaxing reminiscence of early kayak days. There was no danger, no choppy ship canals or 6ft waves to navigate, just glass-like water, the sound of the breeze skipping like a stone & the occasional call of a morning dove.  The thrills were subtle: spotting a great blue heron, seeing the sky reflect perfectly in the water.

The More Events to Write About, the Less Writing Accomplished.

I've had a busy, engaging & productive (in laziness) summer. I was complaining to a friend about having no time to write & he suggested that I start a photo-journal, publishing a handful of photos everyday.  So... here's my first entry: Today, I visited a small farm somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon, east of the Mississippi and west of the Atlantic... (how's that for vague!).

I love the stimulation, energy & impossibility of boredom in Big City but the silence and stillness of this last week have been very centering. This is something I'll need to search out over the next few years to maintain my psychological balance.

Bathroom Dreaming....

So I've been tackling one 'nesting project' a week.  School's much much better btw.. I adore physiology; everything (well, mostly) is really interesting. We've just started immunology too. Booyaah!

Anyway, back to my weekly projects: this past month, I've been focusing on the bathroom. I've always dreamed (hence the post title) of a spa tub with a tropical view. I know, I know.. Winter rental in Chicago? A room that I can't paint or make other major changes? I might as well shoot for a moon spa with a great view of the earth.  But I just finished this morning's goal of adding stones along the tub and am thrilled with the result.

The bathroom isn't finished. I found an old mirror at a thrift store and plan on gluing broken bits of granite tile and leftover stones and 'frosting' the remainder with some blue spray paint to imitate a waterfall. I'll place it behind the planter.  I hope that I can keep enough of the reflective properties to increase natural light in that corner but disguise them so I don't have to stare at myself naked in the shower.  I'm allowing myself a couple of weeks to finish that project.  But here's the bathroom as is for now.

 

I brought the conical hat and the print back from Viet Nam. 

 

Orchids were $6.99 at Trader Joes. I spent $15.00 for the black stones and found the wood border (I think it is scrap from the apartment building cabinetry) in the basement. I glued a couple of slivers of sponge to the bottom to give it traction. That and the weight of the stones keep it firmly in place.

 

The planter and plants were $21.00 from Kmart. I used blue electrical tape on the pot the Dracaena came in.  Ceramic pots are expensive!

 

I'll use tiles like these for the 'waterfall' thingamajig. They're only 1.50 each at Home Depot! The vases were made by a friend in upstate NY and the fish are actually ceramic knobs from the Mackenzie-Childs barn sale (years ago).

 

This was a baby spider plant from my Gram's house and she made the hummingbird out of a pine cone. 

 

Well, there you have it. Now try to imagine it with a fabulous (laugh) waterfall-mirror thing behind the planter. 

Cheers.

Updated Photographs

Here's are the links to the pictorial evolution this past year of my bedroom & living room:

north living room & sunroom
south living room
west living room
east living room
east bedroom
west bedroom 

Second Week, Day One

Well, I'm firmly entrenched in the grit of medical school. We've covered 1/6 of our biochem/cellular bio course and our midterm is next Monday. My. Birthday. Huzzah!

I'm actually feeling pretty comfortable (so far) with the pace we've set. I'm sure, though, that I'll have a different sentiment this coming Sunday. 

We've had a few lectures in our development course on men's vs women's health, full of statistics and how social constructs affect medical outcomes.  It struck me though that the men's lecture was full of clinical techniques to counter these issues but there was not. a. single. one. introduced in the talk on women's health despite so many more inequities being quantifiably demonstrated (representation in clinical trials, the masculine body being the normal presentation in academics etc. I won't even go into the social/cultural contexts women deal with). 

Our class is, strangely, predominately male. A 60-40 ratio, I think.  Even with this disproportion, the female contribution, whether in the form of questions or thoughts, has been minimal. Besides my own, I've only heard two other feminine voices raised in lecture. Is this normal at other schools? I would have thought that anyone who reaches this stage in their education would be more assertive, more confident in contributing.

The school's fitness center is right next door to the building our lectures are in. It's amazing! Before, I'd always had the best intentions regarding working out but I rarely followed through beyond the first or second week. Now, it's pretty effortless. I go to class in the morning, study on campus for a few hours afterward, then walk down the hall toward the parking garage. But, wait, there, a beautiful pool, steam room and hot tub! So I wander in. I tell myself "you can relax as long as you want in the jacuzzi, just first: run 2 miles and swim 2 laps." So I do! It takes about 45 minutes and then, I soak. LOVELY.  I can already feel the difference in my body, I'm falling asleep more easily, waking up more readily and can really focus on the class material.  I know that I wouldn't make the same effort if the gym wasn't so bloody convenient. I actually felt guilty last Friday for skipping out early. I'm determined to get my resting heart rate down to the 60s (I'm high 70s-low 80's now) by the end of the term.

That's all for now. I'll update more later this week. 

Homestretch/Green Mile

I've had a busy week.

I've reorganized my closets. Twice.  And replaced the inner tube on my bike's front wheel and bought a new saddlebag basket and new reflectors. It's been a few years since I've biked regularly in the city and I can barely wait to get back in the habit.  I love love love not having to find, or pay for, parking!

I killed one of my herbs, the lavender. I don't know what happened. It had good drainage and I watered daily. I think the heat conquered. I fear that this is an ominous sign of the coming year. I'll report back next June on the number of plants that survive MS1.

I  had my respirator fitting and TB screen. Why do hospitals not trust other hospitals' ppd results? Tuesday marked the 4th time in the last 7 months that I was poked (once for the yearly at work and twice before volunteering at a hospice). But BCMS required that I have one done by them too. Argh. Of course, it was negative. Again.

The obligatory pre-first day pimple woke up on my chin this morning. Yay.

I've been trying, the last few weeks, to adjust to waking up earlier. With over a decade of working second/third shift, my body understands that anything earlier than 9:00 is obnoxious. But, this morning I woke up before my alarm at 6:45! I'm thinking optimistically that it's the retraining of my circadian rhythm and not stress, despite the pimple. And the nightmare.

Ask any professional restaurant server (the career that paid for all my adult life) and they'll tell you all about the typical server nightmares: the section or table that swells with new people every time you go back, the unreasonable boss, the evil chef etc.

Years ago, when I started working for a truly nasty boss, my server nightmares stopped. I suppose with actually living the nightmare, My superego had to deal with coping with the stress thus leaving nothing for my subconscious.

On rare occasions, the night before terminally extubating my mother or, as the case may be, the nights before medical school, the server nightmare manifests.  Last night, I was back working for the nightmare boss.  I guess that shows how stressed I am. MCAT pshaw, moving cross-country pshaw, tackling two full time jobs simultaneously hah!  The day before school being on par with deciding to let my mother die?!! 

I know that the next few years are going to bring incredible stresses.  I'll be really lucky if my nightmares continue to be about waiting tables and not about things that could happen in the hospital. I can deal with the angry diner who didn't get her Coke refill.

Today, I do laundry, clean, and pay all the bills for the coming months.

Oh. I received a call from my service provider. The other phone I pay for has shown a spike in activity; would I like to add texting to the plan? Apparently, my grandmother has discovered a great new way to communicate to her friends and family. She's sent out 637 texts this month alone.

It makes sense for a woman who is very hard of hearing- there are fewer misunderstandings. I laughed despite the added cost. My almost 90yo Gram is so tech savvy. She has more facebook friends than I do!

Tomorrow, I go grocery shopping- with my new bike basket! and hit the zoo. I wanted to do something fun and relaxing the day before D-day.

Book

I spent hours and hours writing my med school applications. Now that they're done, I'm at loose ends and am trying very hard not to obsess over my statuses. Watched pot and all that...

So I've spent the last few weeks maintaining that creative momentum and focusing it into a story.

I am writing an FBI/armed forces thriller. Ha ha ha ha! It's absolutely ridiculous but I'm having so much fun. I've done a lot of research and am surprised at how much I've learned.

I was never really interested in military history before. Now I have a new appreciation for what my grandfather must have experienced as a ranger in the 6th Battalion during WW2. How I wish now that I had the knowledge/interest to talk to him about his experiences before he died. I didn't even realize before the significance of his being a ranger, a member of the special forces. It's thrilling to have have a personal connection to something that is so romanticized now. I'm trying to balance the romance with reality in my story.

I've fleshed out the plot and have composed about 60 pages but the more I research, the more I have to add to my story. I know that I'll probably never finish it but the process is, so far, fantastic.

Matcha

After a long day, nothing relaxes me like a cup of matcha. I like to brew mine in milk -sacrilege! I know!- instead of water; it cuts through the bitterness better.