12 days till Christmas

So my roommate and I have been getting into the Christmas mood.

Well mainly her and she is slowly breaking my Grinch heart......

Last night we went to go pick out a tree. It was kind of fun, and now I feel fully prepared to have to do it myself someday. As we were walking down the rows of trees, picking them up and looking at them, it felt as if it was a completely normal behavior for me.

It is weird because, while I am not a complete Scrooge/Grinch, I am not a fan of all the commercialism and exorbitant spending that goes into this one holiday. Especially this year with all the financial issues around. I can do simple, but grand has always been distasteful in my mouth. So for the past 5 years my Christmas decorations have included absolutely nothing.

And now, Heather and I are starting do decorate the house. With nice simple christmas decor. And so far it looks great.

And our tree looks and smells awesome by the way.......

Oh, and Christmas shopping.....pretty much done.

Sick Day part Trois

Shoveling 5 inches of snow when you are sick is not fun. No fun at all.

I am completely over this cold.

Now back to drugs and sleep.

Sick Day part Duex

Worse

Worse

Worse

I literally just want to rip off my face and scrap every single sinus cavity out.

The pressure that is being produced by my face is causing me to get light headed and make my brain not function.

It is not fun.

At least I got the ok to not come into work today last night, but I was hoping that I would be better today and not worse then I have been feeling all weekend. I slept all morning and was hopped up on drugs. And still....

I really don't want to have to call into work sick tomorrow, but I might end up having to. Man this paycheck is going to royally suck......

Sick Day

So, I am kinda of, sort of sick this weekend.

And it has been a couple days coming. I started getting a feeling come wednesday that something was coming down the pipes. Early thursday morn, I woke up and my throat was aching. But I didn't want to call into work sick as I was charge that evening and it would have been a jerk thing for me to do. I then felt better on Friday, but yesterday was just a doozy....

I have never felt completely ill like I have in the past, but my throat is burning and really sore (but I still talk normal, no rasping yet). But yesterday it was just so weird in that my body was not reacting to the messages I was trying to send to it. It was if I was drunk, but without all the carefree attitude. Completely uncoordinated body.

Then I put myself into a drug induced coma last night (which I thankfully was able to wake out of to open the door for my roommate who just got back from Honduras.) But last night was a good solid night of sleep. I woke up this morning not feeling the way I have the past few mornings. I throat is at a constant burn now, but at least my face is not conjested and still no rasping.

Here to hoping that I beat it before it got bad.....

Weekend of Thanks....

So, I suppose I should send out the required post of thanks etc......

This past weekend, I was very fortunate in that I got to go out to the Ranch in MT one last time this fall. I just love it out there. There is something to be said about being in the middle of no where. One of my favorite thing about being out there is actually looking at the sky at night and actually seeing millions upon millions of stars. It is almost eerie to see everything without light pollution. Awesome.

The weekend was very nice and relaxing. Not having to focus about going to work was a nice break.

I had a great time with the family too. Thanksgiving dinner was actually on Friday and we had Roast Beef, potatoes, and green beans. One of my all time favorite meals and I wasn't even the one who ordered it! I feel very fortunate in that I do have a pretty close family. And we all like each other. Plus it is always a competition to see who the favorite uncle is....and it should be me, but my brother wins only cause he let them be flower girls in his wedding.....completely not fair. Oh well.....

My life right now is actually pretty dang good all things considered. I have a great job that I am not afraid of losing. (As people always seem to need heart surgery....) My co-workers are awesome as well. I am living with an awesome roommate in an awesome house which I am very thankful to the owners everyday. Plus living here lets me realize how living on my own would eventually turn out. I got to shovel snow last night! Well not !, but it still is fun (wait till I have to do it more than once a week, and we will see if I am still enthused.) I have great friends who know all about my neurotic brain and its ramblings at times. And they still like me for some reason.



And only to throw the word out there one last time: Awesome

Chris's Inappropriate Weekend....

So before your minds start wandering too far, the title was taken from my roommate. Heather labeled this weekend as Chris's Inappropriate Weekend, not me....

And actually, it was not that inappropriate at all. I got many productive things done, such as winterizing the house, and various small projects completed.

The reason why I was apparently inappropriate was mainly due to a few things that I did. First, I have discovered a really fun new band. 3Oh!3 (pronounced 3 oh 3). And they just happen to be two white dudes from Colorado who can best be described as having an electronic rap-hop feel to them. And while their lyrics are not something that I normally would listen to, they are just so addictive and infectious. So, I downloaded their CD and have been listen to it non stop all weekend.

Well, not quite so non-stop as in between I have been taking breaks and watching a show that added to my inappropriateness. I don't know why I like this show, but It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia so inappropriate and not PC at all. So I began my rewatch of the show. And just cause the episodes that I watched dealt with racism, underage drinking, cancer, and abortion, it does not mean that it doesn't have some redeeming qualities. Actually, not so much at all.

So that was my "inappropriate" weekend. I really went off the hook.......

The Forks

So.

I finally got the family forks. Kind of surprising, but hey I was almost half expecting it......

Little Background Info on them:

The forks are from my grandmothers old silverware set, and my dad/his siblings hated getting them to eat with as they are quite heavy. So you could always tell who was not on good terms with the table setter as they would routinely get these heavy ones instead of the lighter ones.

Fast forward a couple years, and the forks started circulating around as a "gift" between the siblings. It didn't matter the occasion, but it was a surprise to find out that you were now in possession of the forks. They have been baked in multiple cakes, put into cement, even soldered into a metal box. They have travelled across the US and abroad. And then they disappeared. No one knew who had them and no one seemed to recall that they existed. The last known person in possession was my sister who obtained them as a wedding present 7 years ago.

And then I opened my mouth. And my sister found them. And sent them to me as a gift from my nieces. Tricky Tricky.....

And current home is now Rochester. At least until I can get them back into circulation.......

Why I am in Love with TAR

...especially when they go to India!

So, I am hopelessly in love with The Amazing Race. Border-lining on fanatic. As evident by my acronym in TAR. This season has been really great as well. On its 13th installment, you would think that it would get pretty redundant. However, the major strength of this show is that they have the entire world to use as a background. The show is not so much about the race, but in how the contestants deal with the stresses of being in completely foreign situations. And India has always brought out the crazy in the contestants!

Perfectly placed mid season when killer fatigue (KF) is prime to set in, and India has set almost every contestant out of their comfort zone. Crowded, busy streets, language issues, heat/humidity; almost all are guaranteed. It is amazing to see how the racers react. Some very memorable moment include: the rat temple from season 1, how Emily and her mother Nancy were treated very poorly in their attempt to get a train (also season 1), The balking at head shaving (season 5), Joyce actually deciding to do that to her head two seasons later, getting your Indian driver's license and then having to drive to the pit stop (season 10). But nothing can compare to the last visit. It may be what I consider to the be the greatest episode of TAR yet.

You must watch. Check it out here: TAR 13, Episode 7: India in Technicolor

The color fight is enough for this show to win its 7th emmy in a row. It is that good.

And people wonder why I love this show.....

Weekend in MT

So, I spent the weekend in MT at the 'rents ranch. I really like going out there, and now that I am professional adult, I don't get many opportunities to do it. I spent 5 days there in Mid October, and was thankful to get back out there again this time.

I could do without the drive, but hey, sacrifices. I had a great time with my brother, as we spent most of the two days tooling around on the ATVs. (Mostly for fun, but also rounding up the cattle.) We also got to work the cattle through the handling facility that my brother just built, and I must say, I am impressed at how good everything went. We had a nice steady flow, and no major hick-ups. Which doesn't necessarily happen when moving cattle.

Now, the trip back was a bit long. Only had a few things slowing us down.....rain/sleet/snow, and the occasional house in the middle of the road......but I made it back earlier than I expected.

Now, just had to wait two weeks till I get out there again........Thanksgiving is going to be awesome, now that I know that I don't work and get to make it out there.....

The Ballot Card of Life

So, election day has come and gone. America has completed its (at most optimistic) yearly duty and the power now rests with our elected officials.

How sad is it that this is the mentality of many Americans today. Yes the Vote is important, but there is a much more powerful statement we make.

Throughout this year I have been learning more about myself and about life in general. One of the biggest ideas that I have learned is that every action or non-action that we choose to take is very similar to a vote. In this way, we are truly voting for what we value and believe. And we are not even aware that we are making such huge statements in our life. Our ballot card is in front of us every moment of everyday.

For example, earlier this week I stopped off at the grocery store and picked up a convenience meal (one that you cook in the microwave). I didn't even put much thought into it. Now, looking back, at that moment I valued time much more than other values. I didn't take into account the amount of plastic and other materials that is used and wasted with such items and the effect that those would have on the environment. I didn't think about how I was choosing to spend the money that I earned on an item where the distributors (aka company) instead of the producers (aka farmers, etc) get a larger portion of the profits. I never thought of these things prior to my decision. Now, I value conservation/preservation of the environment and support for local producers, but looking back on it, my choice showed that I valued my own time above these.

I could give several other examples, but the point is to learn that all of our actions, not matter how big or small give an insight into who and what we are as individuals. And I am not here to convince someone that their choices are wrong. I just want people to realize that those choices reflect to the world who they truly are.

So, for all of you who feel that your values and what not are reflected in their vote last Tuesday, I am here to tell you that you are wrong. Your values and beliefs are much better reflected in your own actions and words, not a simple ballot card....

Life on the way to MT

So, what can I say. I really love my job. Or it is more like I really love getting out of work and it is really easy to do with my job.

So far this pay period, I have missed 3 full days of work. (But I did get called in for 8 hrs on Sunday, so it is more like 1.5 days now, and I am ok with that.) And now I have the next 6 days to go on a short vacation.

So first stop is to St Cloud where I will get to wish my Niece a very happy birthday. (Have to work on being coolest Uncle). Possibilities there include bowling and using the Zip Line.

Then I am headed to Sauk where I will probably only spend the night before I head out to MT. Then 3 nice days out there where I don't have to do much, and then I am coming back home.

Oh, and then in 2 weeks I will be doing the same thing over Thanksgiving.

Life is good to me right now........

Wednesday is finally here....

So the Wednesday that I have been waiting for is finally here.....

And how do I feel? Kind of relieved actually. I am excited and intrigued to see where Obama is going to take our country. Now, most people that I know probably feel like his election is near horrible levels, but I honestly don't see that. I think Obama will be a good president.

I spent all Tuesday morning actually researching our local elections, and I actually found them to be easier to decide than the president. It was actually the last one that I officially marked down on my template. Now, I did vote for McCain/Palin, but I am fine with an Obama win. I had a feeling all morning that come 2100, he would be our President Elect. Do I agree with all of his policies that he is planning on making? Not really, but hey, I will have to live with it. (As long as Socialized Health care does not come through.....) He does have some great ideas and hope that some of them make it through (Yea for Renewable energy.....)

The one thing that I am most impressed with is the reaction that his win has gotten. Not just here stateside, but in the world. Now if I could just get people to stop gloating about it and move on......

In actuality, both are not as far to their respective sides as the other would have made them out to be. So that was why it was kind of hard for me to vote this election. But I am glad I did.

Well, I wish President Obama the best with his four years and I hope he guides our country to where we need to be these next four years.

Wednesday can not come soon enough.....

I think the title says pretty much everything.

I am sick of this election crap already. The longer it has been, the more and more I am turned off by all of the politicians on both sides. It is at this point that I don't even really care who wins, just so we can move on.

It is hard for me because I am an issues guy, not a party guy. Both parties suck in my opinions; too polarizing. I am fiscal Republican with Democratic Ideals. It is a frustrating position to be in......

First. John McCain. Seems he has been trying to dig himself out of a hole. Literally and figuratively. Man that guy is old. Also, one of the major issues that I care about, the environment and alternative energy, he seems to be far less concerned than other candidates. Drill for more energy....not going to be as productive as investing into an energy infrastructure overhaul. Temporary solution to a longer term problem. Plus, I feel he has turned into a former shell of his original self and is now just spewing out Republican propoganda.

Next, Obama. Man that guy can speak! I bet you he could convince us he invented the internet..... He is all about change. I am for change, but some of his promises are ridiculous. First, "share the Wealth" Biggest concern with democrats. I grew up learning that if you succeed, you should benefit. And it was a hard lesson cause I usually wasn't always the winner. To me it seems like they are almost punishing success. And that is not a way to fix this economy. Heck yeah I would benefit more under Obama's Tax Cuts, but I feel everyone should have to pay an equal percentage of what they make. Democrats make people feel like victims and the people holding them down become scapegoats. Plus I think Obama would run into some hard times with his budget, considering he is promising half of America a portion back. And he want to reform healthcare? (Fat chance), schools (lofty ideal), and get out a Iraq (not a smart decision to do an immediate pullout).

Both candidates pretty much suck in my opinion and I am forced to chose between the lesser of two evils. And combined throughout the Primaries and the presidental campaign, they would have spent almost nearly $1 billion dollars to convince us that they deserve to be our president. I am thinking that the $1 billion dollars could have been spent much more productively....

Side Tangent: People are stupid and only live in the here and now. Frustrating that everyone pretty much focused on just the economy. People are talking about how the Bush Economic Plan was the worse thing that could ever happen to our country. When if you look at it, the Dow Jones average actually was increasing shortly after 9/11 (when the markets tanked due to, you know, those planes). They were rising and actually went above bush's starting level. Then the housing market collapsed thanks mostly to sub prime mortgages. (which were only possible thanks to Congress basically requiring that banks and lending companies give out risky loans, and then allowing those risky loans to get traded between various agencies until they were finally collected on). Some people just thought they should be able to live above their means and now here we are. What did they think was going to happen. Those people should have lost their houses. I don't get a redo on most of my mistakes.... Ugh.....

Won't even talk about the VPs. They really don't matter at all.

When will people realize that our president really won't be able to achieve all the promises that they make. Their hands are tied by the congress which has the real power in this country, yet people seem to forget this. Minus Bush trying to attain more executive power for himself, the legislative branch is the real area where change can and should be made. They are the ones that make the laws, pass the budgets, etc. Yet they too are stuck in "Washington Limbo" cause they can't seem to work together on anything.

Ideally, there should be term limits on politicians in Washington. No lifers.

It is frustrating for me because most politicians feel that once they are elected, they take that as a validation that their personal beliefs are what matter to their constituents. When in fact they should be basing all of their decision on how their vote would best suit their constituents overall.

So, I guess if I had an ideal vote, it would be for change. A change to how everything is going down in Washington right now.

"The world's a mess, and I just want to rule it....." Oh, if only that were true......

Lazy Saturday

So work this past week was good, but maybe a bit stressful. I had a lot to do, and not much time to do it in. I still don't have my list of things to do done, but I think I am going to take a relaxing saturday to chill. It is drizzling on and off, so there is not much I can do outside (cuts some of items on my to-do list).

I finally got my freezer from home here. Now I can fill it up! Never again should I run out of food choices.....most people don't understand my desire to have 13 cubic ft of freezer space. But when you grow up with 2 chest freezers as well as 2 more on other refrigerators, you can begin to understand why I love having freezer space.

Putting off cleaning my room. It is a mess, but hey, I can live in it still. I did lose a notebook that I need, so maybe that will give me the desire to clean it up a bit. Hopefully it is in that mess, or I am really going to start worrying (well not really, but it is something that I do need eventually).

No other plans for the weekend. Should be nice and relaxing.

Volunteering in India

So, one of the side effects of me being bored is I start thinking about all the places that I want to go to in this world. I love traveling and would be a in a car/airplane every other day if I could. So during this weekend when I was working overnights, I had a lot of free time on my hands. And you can only guess what I ended up finding.

I don't know how I found the site, but I just started to look at projects-abroad.org. It is a website with volunteering projects all over the world. At first I was interested in their China trips (cause everyone knows that I am secretly half chinese in my soul.) However, I started to get really interested in their Conservation and Environment projects. All of them look to be a blast. From saving rainforest in Peru or Costa Rica to helping with Reef conservation in Thailand or turtle hatching in Mexico, I really thought these would be cool projects to do. Strange as it may sound however, the one that got me to most interested was working on a sustainable farm in India. And I really do not know why for sure. Maybe because this is the one that would be the most out of my comfort zone.

Maybe it is because I have started to be more self sustainable in my own life, that the farm idea kind of fit in with that. I never thought that a farm would draw me back into farming. Ha, wait till my dad hears about that one! It only took on half way around the world to do it. Another aspect of the India trip is to plant trees and teach local farmers about conservation etc. I really think it would be a blast to do.

The thing is, this project lasts about 1 month. Or 2 if you want it to. I would probably have to quit my job, and I can only imagine what my parents/family would say about that. I do take their advice, but at the same time, I am the one who ultimately gets to make this decision. So here is what I am thinking. When I decide to move to another job, I may just end up taking about 3 months off in between and go off on some crazy adventure like this.

So who knows, maybe in the next few months I will be over in India watching worms compost material......

Busy weekend

So I had to work my first Holiday of work. And I was lucky to pull (aka get left with) Labor Day weekend. And not just the weekend, but overnights. Now I shouldn't complain because I could work on a unit or floor where I have to do nights more frequently, but man was it rough having to switch to a new schedule.

Friday night was probably the most difficult for me. However, the night itself was not so bad. It was busy prior to us getting there, but once 2300 hit, the OR was silent.

The next night was not as hard to stay awake. Granted that may have been because I slept from 0800 to about 1830 waking up a few times in between. We did have an ortho case on, but I didn't have to do too much for it. I was supposed to do a general case (lap appy), but the other nurse loves doing them and wanted to do it. I had no qualms in giving it to her.

Sunday, I kept hearing the helicopters flying and landing on the hospital the whole day. I kept telling myself that the night was going to be rough if they kept bring people into the ER. Well when I got there, there wasn't anything going on, but like I thought the ER was crazy busy. So always on alert down in the OR (well actually just fingers crossed that nothing would have to come down). Finally we heard about a speenic laceration, and not only did we get ready, we got ready for 2 separate rooms. Because charge did not now where he wanted to put it. Ugh. But after we rushed to get this emergency case set up, they decided that they did not need to actually come down to the OR till the morning. Fine by me. This poor kid sounded like he was beat up pretty bad. Lesson learned: Always wear your seatbelt and physics will always win over a human body.

The rest of the night was probably my favorite. Myself and a coworker were trying to see if one of the ghosts that haunts the core would show itself, but nothing happened. Bummer. I also found a website where I can watch old seasons of The Amazing Race! Best part of my weekend! Now I will get to finish watching all the seasons/episodes that I never was able to catch. Awesome. Except now I have a time waster at my disposal.......

Just woke up from only about 4 hrs of sleep hoping that I can stay up till the night, where my body will fall asleep, thus returning to its normal sleep schedule.

Heres to hoping.

Nap time

So....the older I get, the less and less likely I get to take rest periods during the afternoon. AKA a nap. And today I had the perfect opportunity to do such a thing as I don't have to fall asleep early tonight as I don't work till Friday 2300. And I just woke up refreshed and in a much better mood than I had been in prior to sleeping.

I had been getting frustrated with work situations and started to have a negative attitude, so I told myself that I was just tired and cranky like my nieces get when they too need a rest. And man I feel like my brain is relaxed and calm and able to better process things. Thus I am in a much better mood.

Naps rule!

My current life statements

Life is not just a set of random happenstances.

Words that come from my mouth should be spoken in truth.

I am on a path to better not only myself, but everything around me.

Green is more than a color.

Life is much more than what we have or don't.

Do no harm.

Leave no trace.

Happiness is found beyond circumstance.

Find yourself and others will find you.

If you do not give 100% of yourself everyday, who can say that you have truly lived?

Science!

So I went to the Science Museum yesterday with a good friend. We had a blast! First, when we got there, we thought that we would have to miss the sole reason for us wanting to go....the Star Wars exhibit.

Well, it just so happens that the one ticket guy told us that the tickets for the 130 entrance were still available when in fact they were not. So what does he decide to do? He gives us entrance tickets for 1130, so we did not have to wait in line. He officially became our favorite person who works at the Science Museum.....

And after about 1.5 hrs, I was over Star Wars, but Audrey still need to get her fix. I was ready to head out and see real science....

The rest of the day was fun. I got to see my dinosaurs. Which made me happy. I got to play and learn at the same time. Favorite exhibit was the video globe. I want one in my house just so I can see the entire planet at once.

I did realize though that the Science Museum is set up more for little kids. I don't mean to brag, but I feel like I knew almost everything in there already. But it was still fun. I got to play with Fire, water, watch a brain surgery on a video (which is not a cool as seeing the real thing....I know cause I have seen it....).

All in all, it was a good day to go to the science museum. But I think I would have enjoyed the Zoo a little more. Oh, well, there is always next time.