Last hurrahs

So in an attempt to wring the last few drops of summery fun out of summer, I spent the weekend camping with my friend out in the Whiteshell (where I haven't been since I was young) and It. Was. Fantastic.  Amber got a campsite right on the lake, the weather was gorgeous, and we spent all our time outside.  I haven't been camping like that in approximately 8 years.  All my camping since then has been in my parents' RV, which has a shower, a queen size bed, a fireplace and a full kitchen in it.  Camping this is not.  We as a family have no illusions about this. But this past weekend we were about 50 yards from the beach, cooked outside, had a fire, sat by the water while the sun went down, it was amazing.  Like Amber said "Stuff like this is good for your soul."  The past few years the summers have been so crappy/rainy/cold/non-existent that lots of quintessential "summer stuff" falls by the wayside, but this year, while I missed out on some of my staples (ie. Folklorama, Fringe Fest), there's been more outside, classically summery stuff this year, like BBQ's, beaching, camping, etc.  I've had a few bouts of heat stroke and I still burn like a peach (even with SPF 60.  Hell, even under an umbrella once), but totally worth it.  Awesome stuff.  Have a great week everyone!

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one." - Eleanor Roosevelt

A week laden with emotional pitfalls. Or Becca attempts a stiff upper lip and fails.

I woke up, like the rest of Canada, Monday morning, to the news that Jack Layton had passed away.  I will admit to crying. A fair bit. I didn't know him personally (obviously), but I've always liked him since he took over the NDP back in 2003.  I have voted NDP in every election I've been eligible to vote in, and in large part, I feel it's due to the trust he was able to engender from Canadians.  He was a charasmatic, intelligent and persuasive leader and will greatly be missed in the Canadian political landscape, which I worry veers ever closer to American style politics all the time under Steve.  He tirelessly advocated for the idea of looking after each other, and putting the needs of the many above the needs of the few, a welcome and essential counterpoint to the current Conservative government ideology. 

I remember when the 2011 federal election was about to start, my mother and I were watching the news and they showed an appearance Jack Layton was making and we both gasped at how terrible he looked.  Haggard, gaunt, using a cane to get around....but the remarkable thing was, unlike pretty much anyone else on the face of the Earth would, Jack started looking better and better as the election wore on. (Seriously, look at Barack Obama. 3 years in office and he looks 15 years older than when he started)  Like he was feeding off the momentum and energy his party was gaining.  I think his increasingly vibrant-looking public appearances settled concerns about his health, and reassured that he was going to be ok, if he could make it through something so arduous looking so robust.  It's so heartbreaking that he did make it through all of that, leading the NDP to such amazing gains, and then was robbed of the chance to enjoy it.  I worry now, with such a powerful influence gone, that Stephen Harper will take this opportunity to run roughshod over any social progress that might have been made (I'm sorry, I just assume he's evil untrustworthy. His hair NEVER moves. Like it's screwed onto his robot body every morning).  Hopefully the NDP are able to carry on successfully without Jack.  Rest in peace.  Thank you for reminding us all that humanity can and should have a place in politics.

Tuesday night was my last shift on GA3.  I think, to my credit, I only cried about 5 times.  A3 gave me my first nursing job, and showed me what it was like to be part of a family in the place that you work.  To face life and death, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, with a group of people you can unquestionably count on to have your back.  That, contrary to my senior practicum experience, nursing wasn't exclusively populated by backstabbing, negative, petty people who want to see you fail.  I was accepted and supported from my very first day on A3, and I will never forget that.  I wouldn't be the nurse I am today without the fabulous people there.

Just as an aside, may I say how irritating I find Hugh McFadyen's new election commercials.  Talking about how "Greg Selinger promised an end to hallway medicine and now we have more hallway medicine than ever."  I work at the biggest hospital in the province, and we don't keep people in the hallways.  If we're not able to accomodate someone, we send them somewhere that is.  Probably not hallway medicine like they had back when the last Conservative government fired all those nurses....Hey. Hugh. If health care is going to be one of your election "legs to stand on", you'd better make sure it's not made of crap.

"Always remember that the future comes one day at a time." - Dean Acheson

Thursday thoughts mash-up

Celebrities That Should Just. Stop.
- Tom Cruise
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Everyone on Glee that isn't Jane Lynch
- Katherine Heigl
- Seth Macfarlane
- Jennifer Love Hewitt (Seriously! Give up!)
- Jeff Dunham (Being racist and ignorant through a puppet is still being racist and ignorant)
- Mariah Carey
- Christina Aguilera
- Every single Kardashian there is. Except maybe Kim. I like a nice caboose.
- Charlie Sheen
- Angelina Jolie. Quit saying you're retiring from movies to focus solely on your refugee camp photo ops if you're not really gonna do it.
- Lindsay Lohan. You're such a sweet girl and a good actress but you're squandering it and it's becoming annoying.
- Nicole Kidman
- Jennifer Aniston. Your movies are terrible.
- Those Jersey Shore kids. You've had your moment in the sun(tanning booth). Move along.
- Whitney Houston.  There's no shame in admitting your best days are behind you.

Anybody have anyone they want added to the list? I know you do!

Celebrities I Hope Never Stop
- Michael Caine
- Helen Mirren
- Dolly Parton. That woman warms the cockles of my heart.
- Betty White. I bet she gets freaked out being the last remaining Golden Girl. Like Death may be looking over her shoulder.
- Sean Connery
- James Franco (not because he's "soooo cute" but because he's always doing crazy crap that by rights he shouldn't be)
- Natalie Portman
- Alexander Skarsgard (though what I hope he "never stops" is his shirtlessness)
- Anna Paquin. Cute as a bug's ear.
- Jennifer Lopez. I don't care what anyone says.
- John Stamos. Getting handsomer every day.
- Amy Poehler. She's going to be an adorably crass little old lady some day.

The B Monthly List of Stuff I Like Lately
- Online window shopping
- Tzatziki.  Even more than usual.
- Dill pickle chips
- William and Kate. Yes they're overexposed, but as nice, sweet kids doing a good job of behaving themselves internationally.
- Lettuce-less salads
- Saying what's on my mind with an increasing amount of assertiveness AND tact!
- Jason Momoa (actually guys with long hair generally....that's new...see also: Troy Polamalu)

- Music I listened to in the 90's. I'm feeling nostalgic.
- Gogol Bordello. It's like Prozac, it makes you THAT happy.

- The fact that I've got time off at the end of August to actually spend with my parents who I've barely seen all summer.

- BEACH DAY NEXT WEEK!!! I'm looking at you Norma! And whoever else wants to come!

"When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice." - Saul Bellow

Waves of relief followed by.......

So after much anxiety, hand-wringing and some hyperventilating (not to mention only about an hour of sleep beforehand total), I trotted off to my ICU course interview this morning.  And you know what?  I nailed it.  I don't think I've ever had an interview go so well.  I tend to interview kinda airheaded.  You know when someone asks you a question, and you can tell there's a specific answer they're looking for, but you're not giving it?  Yeah, that wasn't me this morning for a change.  Nailed it.  I'm in.  I start 6 months in the Ninth Circle of Hell on September 6 (the interviewer's words in addition to mine!).  ICU is pretty much the biggest thing a bedside nurse can aspire to.  I always thought I'd do it some day, but I thought it would take me years to feel ready.  I'm kind of nervous but mostly excited.  I want to take a moment to thank my darling friend Michael Yeibio for talking me off the ledge and bringing my voice down several octaves last night.  There's a certain kind of tension I'm not used to an abundance of in my life, and I wasn't managing it well.  Who knew that not remembering the difference between hypercapneic and hypoxic respiratory failure could incite such frenetic pacing and tachycardia??

I'm not enjoying this season of True Blood.  I'm just not.  It doesn't leave me hanging and caring what happens next week like it used to...they're following too many fringe-character storylines no one cares about...the music continues to be great though, like this past weeks title song:

Neko Case also did a really great cover of She's Not There with Nick Cave for the season premiere.  I still like Malcolm McLaren's cover from Kill Bill better, but this one is definitely different:

It's Folklorama time again in Winnipeg, the time of year when we all feel obligated to head out to various community centres, churches and arenas to wait in interminable lines for standing room only to watch some uncoordinated teenagers attempt the cultural dances of their homelands at the behest of their parents.  Having said that, there are a couple of new ones I wouldn't mind checking out this year (Brasil Carnival, Ethiopia, Punjab, 2 of which are at the Convention Centre, so I'll probably actually go).  I think Folklorama is one of those things that everyone in Winnipeg is "supposed" to like.  Like Folk Fest.  No one wants to admit it's tedious, disappointing or insufferable because it's one of the few things this city really has going for it.  Which is probably ok. 

Lastly, congratulations to my friends Steve and Roy on the births of their babies, Steve a little boy named Zach, and Roy a little girl named Annalise.  Finally, gender balance has come to HSC!!

That's all for now, thanks for reading :)

"Do more of what makes you happy" - Unknown