that I like all of my days

I didn't have a hospital shift on Monday, and I texted a friend to say, "Ohh, I love my days off."

Then a moment later, I followed it with, "But actually, I also love my work days. Maybe I just love...days!"

And I think that's a testament to the fact that I like the life I have now. Work days, off days...they are all good. 🙂

for the variety of things I do at the hospital

Obviously, there are some repetitive tasks; I give insulin shots almost every shift, I listen to heartbeats and lung sounds every shift, I do pain assessments every shift, and so on.

But in general, no two days are the same, and I kind of love that.

An example: on a recent shift, a patient was really being driven crazy by her untrimmed bangs (one of those straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back things), and she asked me to help. I had time, so with the permission of my charge nurse, I gave her a little haircut and then braided her hair.

I've cut (and braided) lots of hair for my own girls, and I've also been trimming my bangs for years, so when she asked, I thought, "I've been training for this day basically my whole life." Ha. You never know when those skills will come in handy. 😉

What a funny job nursing is; you just never know what tasks you will do in a day!

for a little dusting of snow

It was brief, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

(And now this weekend it looks like we may get more than a dusting!)

that we are almost up to 10 hours of daylight

On Sunday, my weather app says that in my zip code, we will have exactly 10 hours of daylight. Woohoo!

This is up from our solstice low of 9 hours and 24 minutes.

And by mid-February, we will be at 10 hours and 45 minutes. More light is coming, and soon!

(Unless you live in the southern hemisphere, obviously.)

for my good health

I'm grateful my body is healthy enough to do all of the things I do.

that my new class seems not as bad as the last

I say this cautiously, but...I looked it over, and it seems more manageable.

Here's hoping it's a less crash-out-inducing experience than my most recent BSN class. Hehe.

What are you thankful for this week?

The post Thankful Thursday | I just like...days! appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

This week, I am thankful:

to still be healthy

It's a rough winter out there, and the patient volume at my hospital reflects that. Luckily, I have not gone down yet, but of course, it's still early. We have another couple of months of Very Germy Season to get through.

Regardless, I'm glad to have made it this far!

for a catch-up call with Lisey

Zoe and I were eating together when we got a call from Lisey, so I put it on speaker and we all got to catch up. Even Chiquita joined. 😉

for beautiful places to walk

How lucky am I to have so many trails with lovely views here??

for a catch-up with my friend

She just got a new job, so she's rather busy too. But we managed to meet up for some tea and croissants. 🙂

that I walked out four years ago

Four years ago on this day, I woke up from a dream that reflected how deeply I no longer wanted to live.

And on that day, I walked out of my marriage, although at the time, I did not understand that that's what I was doing.

My parents had asked if I could at least come to their house for a weekend, for a break, because I was honestly in terrible shape.

I could not stop crying, and I remember walking around in a fog trying to pack a weekend bag. Our bodies often reflect our mental state, and I distinctly recall that I packed in a hunched-over state, unable to stand up tall.

I felt crushed, exhausted, and beaten down, with no hope left, and my posture reflected that.

I left with the idea that I would go back after the weekend, after I'd gotten myself together a little. But then the girls and I got Covid, so we stayed away longer*. And the longer I stayed away, the more clarity I got.

Eventually, I decided I could never go back.

*Notably: being sick at my parents' house, living out of a weekend bag was still WAY better than the way I'd been living, and I felt slivers of hope peeking through the clouds.

The date would have slipped right by me except...when I clocked out of work last night, a friend texted me because she remembered I left my marriage on January 15th.

I was so busy living my new life, I hadn't even noticed. And maybe that is a testament to the rebuilding that has happened these last four years.

I used to wish I could go to sleep and never wake up; now I wake up each day excited to live.

And I am grateful, grateful, grateful.

What are you thankful for this week?

The post Thankful Thursday | four years ago appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

that I have work scissors again!

Yay! My new pair arrived to replace the ones I lost:

Watch out, potassium bags, nicotine patch packages, and colostomy baseplates! I'm armed and ready. 😉

for time to rest and reset

I'm going back to work today, but boyyyy, do I feel better after having had a string of days off.

I took care of some practical stuff, I exercised, I cleaned my house, I made some social plans, and now I feel much less overwhelmed. Yay!

I'm refreshed and ready to go back and take care of my patients. 🙂

An unfortunate spike in flu cases means mandatory masking for all employees right now, but luckily, I am good at smiling with my eyes. So I will still bring cheerful energy to my patients.

that I don't mind the cold

It is so so so much easier for me to go for outdoor walks in January than in July! I do feel a little chilly, especially at the start of a walk, but it never bothers me as much as heat and humidity do.

I was not built for summer weather (which is unsurprising, given my German/Norwegian genetics. I am probably quite literally designed for the cold. ;))

that my yard is now tidy

I have never paid for yard help since I moved here, but I finally cracked and hired my neighbor down the street (who owns a landscaping company) to come and clean up my leaves.

I texted him and said, "Can I trade you some money for some yard cleaning?" And he said yes.

It was kinda expensive, but I didn't even care. I did NOT have time to deal with it, and now my yard is clean without me doing a thing except writing a check.

(I know you can just let the leaves sit and rot, but my lease specifies that I have to keep the yard maintained. So, it's not really an option to, uh, leave the leaves. Ha.)

for my lovely hosting company

As you can see, I was working on a new theme, and I needed a little help with a few things for the migration. So my lovely guys at Deep Roots hosting (formerly called Agathon) helped me out.

I seriously cannot say enough good things about them; they are BY FAR the best hosting company I've ever had.

(Also, please forgive the remaining site issues; I will deal with them when I'm off from work next!)

for my support group friends

My two friends Kristin and Maureen were in a divorcing-a-certain-kind-of-man support group with me back in 2022, and though that group has since dissolved, the three of us have stayed friends ever since.

We all live about an hour and a half from each other (seriously a triangle!), but we text regularly. And we had one of our Zoom catch-ups on Sunday, which reminded me again how much I love them. No one understands you quite like friends who have been through similar difficulties.

You know that Taylor Swift line that says, "At least you know exactly who your friends are; they're the ones with matching scars."? I don't know what she meant by that line, but when I heard it, I immediately thought of my friends who have been through similarly hurtful marriages.

Our matching scars make our friendship special.

that my new-car joy is un-squashable

My Instagram post about my new car has now reached almost 800,000 views (!!!), so of course, there have been a handful of people saying my dream car is stupid, or that my car is ugly.

And it has changed absolutely nothing about the joy my car is bringing me. I still feel wildly happy about my purchase, and no one on the planet could possibly convince me that my car is ugly.

SHE IS BEAUTIFUL. 🙂

(And honestly, 99% of the Instagram commenters have said the same; it has been a wildly supportive comment section!)

that I got to use my sunroof

Yesterday was the first day it was warm enough to actually open my sunroof and oh, I was happy!

I delightedly drove down the highway with the wind tickling my hair feeling like…oh my WORD, I can't believe I finally have a sunroof.

for my new Snoopy shirt from Zoe

I love his ridiculously large bowtie!

It makes me chuckle every time I look at it!

What are you thankful for this week?

The post Thankful Thursday | I have scissors! appeared first on The Frugal Girl.