reflections

I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this. It's something that is always on my mind, but I never sit down and actually do it. I had a productive few months since my last update. New Orleans was a total blast, and the days spent there couldn't have been spent with a better group of friends. I can't believe that in a few short weeks Jenny and I will be going to Key West. The seed of this trip was planted in New Orleans and is now coming to fruition. If you haven't been to New Orleans yet, it is a place that you need to go. Go to Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar on Bourbon street, it's not the home of the hurricane but their version is better.

This fall has brought some changes. I've attempted to start dating again. While it hasn't been extremely successful it has brought things into sharper focus. Sometimes you get in such a rut that you need to step back for a fresh perspective. Luckily going to Vegas for some CE brought that prospective. I knew attempting to date while working overnights would be hard, but it is much harder than I expected. So I decided I needed to re-evaluate my reasons for working the shift and decided that I am going to go back to day shift when a position opens. My original reason for working nights is no longer valid and hasn't been for about 18 months since the ex moved out, so why am I doing it. I just hope I can bite my tongue enough at work, since I tend to be outspoken and I don't need to get into trouble with my mouth. I am going to miss all my free time that i have at work to read when I go back to days. I can't count the number of books I've read. I have went through about 10 since the beginning of December alone. As for dating, in theory it will be a bit easier if I'm working days (at least I will have more evenings free) and if I meet someone that would be nice, but this past year has taught me that I can be happy being single and doing things by myself and with my great group of friends.

As for this year I have been making some positive changes in my life. My trip to Vegas had more impact than just some work insights. I weighed about 50 pounds more than I did the last time I went there and I could tell the difference. Needless to say I wasn't happy and decided to make some changes so I went back to weightwathers again. I have been going on and off (more off than on) for the past few years and I found my weight tracker. I had manged to go before Thanksgiving in 07 then again in January 08. Over those holidays I gained 15 pounds. Considering I gained about 15 pounds between May 08 and Dec 08, I made a promise to myself that this holiday season wouldn't be the same. Needless to say I managed to lose weight and am feeling better about myself. I think I should weight about the same when I go to Key West as I did in New Orleans and I intend to weigh less than that when I attend Province in March. I can't wait till spring comes, I'm going to do a complete closet cleaning and get rid of all the clothes that will be too large by then. The greatest part of losing weight is being able to fit into clothes that don't fit currently and getting rid of everything else.

I've been growing reflective the past few months. I think the general economic climate gives us all something to think about. I've been fortunate in my profession that I have a stable job and benefits. I've heard of so many of my cousins getting laid off and lay offs where my sisters work, that I'm glad I don't have that type of fear. I remember growing up with just my mom working that I was always worried what if... something happened to her or the plant that she worked at ?? I am so grateful for all the sacrifices she made to make sure I got an education and a chance at a better life. When my coworkers complain about work, I tell that I'm thankful that I have a job and that for the foreseeable future we will. Even if things change, I can always work retail. In this profession, right now my opinion is that we will have jobs. It may not be the job that we want but we will have one.

I'm also thankful for the friends I have. My trips this year were amazing. I enjoyed every long weekend I spent with my brothers. The alumni dinner dance at school was great for reconnecting with some people. I hadn't seen Roxy since graduation and seeing her again after 10 years was great. Seeing Mike was awesome since he decided to come out to Vegas with Matt and myself. I loved the trick Melissa pulled to get Eric (big daddy) to see us. I feel so bad for what he has went through and hope his little guy is ok. I hoped seeing us would bring a positive lasting change, but that was not to be and I'm happy to have had our last interaction be a positive one.

Hmm I guess that's enough of an update. Feel free to comment or email me....it's interesting knowing which friends read these things.. or stay anonymous and stalk me, that's fine too.

One long update....

So, I've been back for a week now and I wish I was on vacation again. I loved most of my vacation. I wasn't too impressed by South Beach Miami where I stayed the first night. The food was too expensive and the hotel room for what I got was too expensive. it's a good thing the drink I had with dinner was a large and buy one get one free, I was a bit buzzed when I got back to the room which made it tolerable. So the buzz from the two drinks prevented me from finding the gay bars in South Beach. I'm currently planning my next cruise, it was so much fun and very relaxing. I think I will do a southern or eastern Caribbean next time around. While, I was hesitant to travel alone at first, I had a really good time. There was plenty of people watching on board. When I get sick of that I would go and chill out on my balcony and listen to my ipod and watch the waves go by or read. It was very relaxing and gave me a lot of time to think about everything that has happened the past year. I was fully relaxed and in a better state of mind when I got back home. Even being stuck an additional day in Miami didn't bother me. Also, I never got lonely being by myself and usually talked to people around me on the the various shore excursions or at the table next to me at dinner, which is unlike me but was fun. I meet some really nice Canadians one of the nights. They live about an hour or so from Buffalo and tried to convert me to become a Toronto Rock fan. It's funny, they hate the Maple Leafs too. When I was younger my grandmother had property in Ontario, in a town called Eganville, about a 7 hour drive from Buffalo, one of them even knew of it and had stayed there a few times for business. It really is a small world. Who would have thought I would have meet someone while on vacation in the Caribbean that would have known of that small town. I attended several of the ships productions, my favorite was a Cirque du Soleil type show called cirque pan, which was a retelling of the Peter Pan story. Peter Pan while he didn't speak had a great body and was from Holland. A few days later, he was directing people off the ferry at Great Stirrup Cay and has a lovely accent too. The Tulum ruins outside of Cozumel were the highlight of my trip. The views of the Caribbean from there were spectacular. I can see why the Mayas built the city there. It is also amazing to me to be able to walk in palces where you know people were walking thousands of years ago. It's a shame, most of the native american civilizations in the Untied States made their homes out of grasses, timber and animal hides, there are not very many ruins thousands of years old in our country. Being a history buff, I love stuff like that. to me is awsome to walk where I know people did thousands of years ago. Thats why Boston and NYC are awesome, there are places still standing where the forefathers of our country once walked and that was only in past several hundred years.

In other news, I am officially the new overnight pharmacist. I have to admit, right now, it is better than working day shift. This place while I love it is messed up. Maybe once they hire the three new people it will be better. I wasn't going to complain about work, but a doctor just managed to tick me off. Maybe, I shouldn't be blogging while at work, but so what. I consider this my lunch break since I'm not able to leave for lunch, like everyone else can, but I still get docked for lunch. I paged a doctor to follow up on a conversation we had earlier. The patient has a penicillin allergy and he had ordered zosyn and vanco. Well he resends the order, the vanco is crossed off and flagyl and cipro are added and the cipro is ordered iv with the po dose. So I text paged him so he could fix the problems. He calls back from the floor the patient is on and asks me to write the order. I'm sorry but that is the height of laziness considering he probably had the patients chart is his hand. The only bright side is that I know the order is written correctly.

The province convention is coming up shortly, I am getting excited to see my friends again. This year should be even more fun, I'm going to New Orleans with some of my pony posse friends. The trip should be great.