Oh but it's been a roller coaster week!

And hopefully it will all start to slow down in the next couple of days.  Where should I begin?

Last week was Nurses' Week.  As I've mentioned in the past, I LOVE what I do, and even if I didn't have to work, I would probably still do it part time.  I've worked at the same hospital for the last ten years and this year, I was recognized as the Nurse of the Year. =)

Lovely engraved koa box on the left along with orchid leis =)

Along with my lovely certificate and leis from my manager and the administration, I got a beautiful engraved koa box that my daughter is already eyeballing.  The hospital celebrated Nurses' Week with different events and free gifts for the nurses throughout the week and a fancy little luncheon for the nurses recognized as "Nurse of the Year."  While waiting for me to get done at the luncheon, my hubby and sister decided to go out hiking that day.  Since they weren't expecting me to be gone too long, they chose a short trail in Aiea.  Turned out that the place was even muddier than usual that day and they ended up slip and sliding their way through it.  No big deal.  They made it out, and we had a good day for the rest of the day.

The next night, Chris started to feel awful.  High fevers, nausea, vomiting, body aches, you name it.  Flu?  Maybe.  Something else from hiking?  Hopefully not.  He rode it through, but it also meant that I had to stay home from work over the weekend since he was supposed to be watching Audrey while I was at work.  So... that was my Mothers Day weekend.  I didn't go to work, though I was scheduled to do so, but I got to take care of my poor sick husband and kept him quarantined from the rest of the family, much to Audrey's dismay ("I miss getting hugs and kisses at night!").  I think we made it up to her by the fact that I slept with her all weekend so I wouldn't get sick as well, just in case.  And for my efforts, my sweet little girl made me a lovely bracelet for Mother's Day.

My Mother's Day bracelet from Audrey

As for today?  Got to make strawberry banana smoothies with my girl, and took her Daddy to urgent care to get some labs done.  He hasn't been feeling any better, still having sky high fevers and when we took him to urgent care yesterday, there were no physicians available. *sigh*  He didn't really want to go to the emergency room, so we waited until this morning to finally see someone.  Now we just wait for his lab results since apparently it isn't the flu hmmmm...  I just hope he gets well soon.

Before the blending.  I love the honey down the side. Yum!

Tomorrow?  Another doctor's visit for what my PCP thinks may be a hemangioma on my neck and loads of photo taking for ADAY.org  Maybe my dermatologist will let me take pictures of all his equipment. =P  And if you're going to be carrying a camera around with you tomorrow anyway, it's not too late to join me!

Redecorating

If you've been here before, you'll note that I've done a little bit of redecorating.  In the past, I may have just abandoned this page completely and started a new one.  But I've just looked at the LAST blog that I left behind and I actually rather miss it.  This time, I know I need a change, but I'm going about it a little differently.  Why not turn this place into what I want, instead of wiping it all out?  I'll just consider it growth. =)  I'll probably continue to make a few tweaks here and there, but for now, I like that it's brighter than before.  And the fact that I prefer brighter is a very good sign. 

Much of the inspiration has come from the work that I've done with Karen's Path Finder class.  With her help, I was finally able to come up with my word for the year (I know it's already almost mid-year, but better late than never).  The word?  Bloom. 

Some of Merriam-Webster's definition of bloom: 

"to mature into achievement of one's potential"

"to flourish in youthful beauty, freshness, or excellence"

"an outward evidence of freshness or healthy vigor"

and even: 

"a bar of iron or steel hammered or rolled from an ingot"

I like it.  Now on to the next step-- finding ways to bloom.

“Play is the exultation of the possible.” Martin Buber

My fairy dancing with her shadow

Perfectionism is my bane.  I let this site go for a long time without posting because I couldn't post as regularly as I would've liked.  No one said I had to post daily.  No one said I had to post weekly.  But all these little rules that I've set up for myself kept me from doing ANY posting because I couldn't do it perfectly.  So. No more imposing silly little rules.  Instead, I've decided to make this fun.  I've decided to PLAY.  That doesn't sound like such a difficult thing, does it?  Playing.  But it is for me.  So, what does that mean?  Well, as far as this blog goes, it means posting when I get the chance.  I couldn't possibly fail at "when I get the chance", right? 

What else does it mean?  Well, it means tinkering with my camera once again.  It means carrying the point-and-shoot around and using it.  (Too bad my DSLR is too bulky)  I could get on the bandwagon and do the instagram thing, but I still forget that I have THAT camera with me all the time.  I use it as a phone, my internet when away from my computer, my calendar.  But as a camera?  Someone always has to remind me that it's there.  Maybe I need one of those phone skins that make it look more like a camera.  Hmmm... until then, it's point-and-shoot in my purse.  

But more importantly, playing means allowing myself ME time without feeling guilty about it.  Maybe it's my Catholic upbringing.  Maybe it's my Filipino upbringing.  It's probably both.   Catholics and Filipinos are experts in guilt, and I've got plenty of that.  Anyway, overcoming the guilt will be quite the challenge.  To help me with it, I've decided to join a group of folks in finding our "beautiful different" with the help of Karen Walrond.  It all starts today and I'm looking forward to what the future will bring.  I hope that this post will be the beginning of my new adventure into playfulness, and an end to my guilt.

If I could switch lives for one day...

So cuddly, a photo by NurseNinja on Flickr.

it would be with my dog. After a long day like today, I can only wish that I'd be this comfy in bed tonight. Why did I sign up to write a blog entry every day again?

I was ALWAYS there. I was just behind the camera.

At the Greek Festival

Here I've been telling myself that I need to take more pictures, when all along I missed four important words to go with that goal: "with me in them."

I found this article via a photographer friend on how to take family self portraits.  I suffer from two problems: 1. I utterly dislike having my photograph taken, and 2. I enjoy being the one taking the photographs.  Unfortunately, this means that whenever we do something, I'm very rarely in the photographs.  I take the photos to document all the fun things we've done, but years from now, when Audrey looks through those photographs, will she remember that I was there with her?  Even sadder is the fact that after being with Chris for seventeen years, we have few photos together to show for it.  (I'm just glad we "splurged" for the wedding photographer!)  Now I just have to get the tripod out and start bringing my point-and-shoot with us again (I'm not about to hand over my DSLR to a stranger!)

Another year older. More grateful than ever.

Dr. Who themed cake made by my sister

Yesterday was one of the most memorable birthdays I've had, thanks to my wonderful family.  The hubby, kid, and I spent the day at the lagoons in Ko'olina and then had dinner out with the rest of the family.  It sounds like such a simple day, but it couldn't be more perfect for me.  Well... maybe I could've done without the sunburn.  I did say more grateful, not  wiser. 

“Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.” -- Jim Rohn

I don't know what it is about September, but around this time is when I always want to start things over.  Fresh start. New beginning.  Maybe it's because it's my birthday.  *shrug*  All I know is that I've got a ton of ideas, new things to try, old projects to revisit.