Rambling

I don't really have anything to say. I just felt like typing. People complain when I make a bunch of Facebook posts all at once after work, and anyway that isn't what I feel like doing. This seems like the place.

One of the houses I drive past on the way home from work has a backyard full of stars. They're just Christmas lights, of course--plastic frames supporting tiny bulbs, contributing to the light pollution that makes the real stars so hard to see--but they're beautiful. It's a big backyard, with lots of shrubs and trees in which to places the dozens of lights. The golden glow is gorgeous.

The nurses are trying to cut my time on med pass at work. I'm only supposed to take two hours, and I generally run half an hour over that, because of the last three people, two need a lot of stuff and one doesn't want his pill until after nine anyway, so I HAVE to give it after the two-hour mark. I really don't think I'm going to worry about it that much, because there will always be something that keeps me from cutting my time down. It used to be a lady with a ton of eye drops, which have to be given at five-minute intervals. Now I have someone who needs the bandage over the ulcer on her leg changed, and someone else who wants lotion on her (admittedly very dry and flaky) legs. I'd rather do a good job for each of these people than cut them all short to make the nurses happy.

Tonight I finished ten minutes early, apart from waiting until after nine to give that one pill, and then waiting until another lady came home from an outing with her daughter around ten o'clock. So no, I wasn't actually done. Even without those two to wait on, I wouldn't have finished early if it weren't for the fact that a quarter of my patients were missing: one out, one moved to another facility after a stint in hospital, two currently in hospital, and one dead. I don't feel it's a victory, or even a relief. I miss them all.

Lark has been extra neurotic lately. She's been guarding my shirts in the corner, and licking obsessively anything I leave in her reach. Of course, she's also wanting lots of attention when I'm home, for which I can't blame her. She's finally calmed down after lots of petting tonight, and now she's lying alongside my legs. I rather regret the extra blanket, now--she's producing a lot of heat.

I took three books back to the library today, having finished none of them. I've been writing more than reading, lately--and that all journal, really. It's good practice, as I think about how to structure my sentences, my paragraphs, what to say first, what to leave out....trying to keep rhythm to my sentences....and it carries over to my school assignments, my outlines and speeches. Which reminds me that I need to do the textbook reading for next week, as well as figuring out what to talk about in the how-to speech. Doug talked about how to throw a punch. I helped with the visual aid....Visual aids tend to be my weak point--I tend to focus on the speech itself, and the aid is rather an afterthought. Thanks to Fogell, my first speech's aid was rather good, but the one for my second speech was a few lines of text, which I hoped would emphasize what I hoped people to take away from my presentation. I have no idea how effective that was.

It's late enough that I should start getting ready for bed, but of course I'm comfortable and don't want to move. Lark just got up to go roll on the carpet, which needs to be vacuumed soon. The last load of my laundry needs to come out of the dryer. I should probably wash some dishes, but they aren't mine so there's no pressure. The house will probably be cleaned pretty well while I'm at work tomorrow afternoon, anyhow. I'll be main med aide before supper, the busiest time--of course. This happens enough that I've gotten tolerably good at it, enough to get by, but it's still a bit stressful. I'd rather be heading home to visit the clan after church.

I've been hoping to take Patrick along for one of these afternoons, but he works every weekend, Friday through Sunday, and one of his fellow drivers is out of commission. His odds of getting a day off are slim to nonexistent, even two weeks in advance. Oh, well. I don't want to push, because he's probably trying to save up money before the Christmas trip--as am I. I have no idea how much I'm likely to spend, now that I've bought my tickets. The "three hundred into savings every time checking passes a thousand" rule is temporarily in abeyance, while my paychecks accumulate to help pay for Christmas presents and whatever the heck else I might need in Arizona. I have no idea, really. It's not like I'll be paying for a hotel, since we're staying with Patrick's mother and her sister. He never lets me pay for anything when we go out together, so I doubt my eating expenses will be high. Christmas presents seem likely to be my greatest cost....and I still have no idea what to get for Patrick's mum. Nor is she optional--she sent me a lovely birthday present, in addition to shaping Patrick into a civilized (mostly) human being who is also a darn good boyfriend. I was also having some trouble with his present--I asked him, and he said his present was me taking his place helping his mom in the kitchen with the Christmas candies while he hauls her boxes of books out of storage. Sigh. I guess I'm going halves with one of his buddies on a wet-shaving set, but I'd still like to give him something that's just me. I don't know....

Well, such worries aside, I'm looking forward to the trip. It'll be my first trip anywhere that doesn't involve my family, and I haven't been back to Arizona since I was two or three, so it should be interesting! It will also be my first Christmas since I was about five....and my first trip with Patrick....and my first time meeting his mother....as well as all his friends, since in Nebraska he seems to have classmates and coworkers instead. Them I have met.

Lark is at my elbow now, a convenient little furry armrest. I'm still not particularly enthusiastic about heading for bed, but I can't afford a bad night's sleep tonight. Even if I don't stay for choir practice, I would like to be able to focus on the sermon, and I can't take knitting to keep me awake.