Normally at this point in my shift, I would have 6 hours left. 6 down, 6 to go. But, alas, not tonight. For tonight we fall back an hour, letting sugar-filled children have one more hour of sleep after gathering their goodies and letting some nurses earn some overtime in the dark.
And, as the case often is with a well-sedated and ventilated patient, I have extra time on my hands. The last two nights I've entertained myself by reading other people's blogs....people I know, people who know people I know, people I don't know from Adam, etc. Little glipses of lives scattered all over this circle; never-ending commentary on the mundane and the earth-shaking. I switch back and forth between "Man, I have an incredibly boring life" to "Seriously, people, get lives." Either way, it makes me want more words. Words that don't end in -ology or -itis. And I find myself reading on and on. With very little to say.
That's all.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
An observation
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 1:03 AM 3 comments
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Bucket List, Revisited
Back in April, I wrote this post on a slow night shift. It's been over six months, so I figure it is worth an update to see how I'm doing. Though I have to admit, checking things off a list and getting things done have seemed a lot less important lately. I'd much rather snuggle up to my love, watch the leaves fall, or call my parents. But anyway...
*Start a compost pile. No, but I contributed to the neighborhood one.
*Finish painting the few places in my house that need touching up. No, the touch-ups are undone, but I repainted the office.
*Tile the backsplash in my kitchen. Done! And the floor!
*Successfully grow one tomato plant and one pot of basil (the extent of my garden this year) I planted the tomato plant and then forgot it. I zapped the basil with Miracle Grow and it died in hours.
*Read a book about Uganda and try to get a grasp of the history of that country. Nope
*Finish my college scrapbook. (I only have the graduation portion left, and it's been that way for 2 years!) Nope
*Finish my thesis (goal of Nov.). It is DONE! Defense is set for Dec. 3.
*Become a nurse practitioner (planned for May 2010). I'm at least passing right now...
*Play the piano for patients/residents and families at St. Marys and Madonna Towers. Can't tell you the last time I touched the piano, except to dust.
*Make it back to Honduras. No. (sniff).
*Sew something. Nope
*Learn to make decent espresso on my new machine. I have once or twice.
*Winterize the house better so my heat bill improves next winter. Does it count if my husband did it?
*Assume my newfound role as an aunt and get the birthday calendar figured out. Failing miserably.
*Get completely checked off so I can perform blood and marrow transplants and administer chemotherapy at work. Done, even though I really don't like doing it.
Not too bad, huh? If I did it over again, I'd probably make a very different list. Maybe one day I'll get to it.Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 2:41 AM 1 comments
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Yes, I will go out of my way to step on that crunchy looking leaf
Two people + one afternoon off together= three truckloads of leaves
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 6:32 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Words heard too soon
You plan for some things.
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 4:47 PM 10 comments
Labels: 1000 gifts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The mixing of the Seasons
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 3:25 PM 6 comments
Thursday, October 08, 2009
In Thankfulness of Fall
72. my ever-so-perfect long, blue fleece robe
78. casseroles
79. homemade zuccini bread
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 6:50 PM 1 comments
Labels: 1000 gifts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Signs by Andrea
3 cheers for entrepreneurship!
Head over to http://www.andreasteed.com/signs to check out a new business started by my friend Andrea Steed.Spread the word for a chance to win your own personalized sign!
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 6:25 PM 0 comments
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Demoralization
Earlier this year, I completed the Beth Moore Bible study "Believing God." I was too cheap to buy the accompanying video at the time. I thought the study was great without it. But when my friends decided to buy access to the 9-week series online, I chipped in a few bucks and started backtracking through the videos.
She's quite hilarious. Her content is as serious as it gets, but her presentation is just something else. She, with her big hair and her thick Arkansan accent and almost constant outburts of "Glory!" or "Halleluah!" draws me back to past years spent in the thick Tennessean and Arkansan humidity. But she knows her stuff, and she's excellent at making the Word of God come alive and at presenting new dimensions I definitely would have missed.
In the video I watched the other day, she pulled out a concept that hit me right between the eyes. It may not have hit you, had you seen it, but this is my struggle and it's what spoke to me that day.
Demoralization-when Satan figures out who we fear most that we are. And he sets out to confirm it.
What do you fear you are most?
For me, it is incompetence. I hate it. I fear it. I fear I am not good enough. I fear I can't compare to so-and-so. I fear I might fail.
And he uses it, that angel-turned-liar. He convinces me I will try and not succeed, of course I'm not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, tough enough, etc. And I usually crumble, paralyzed in my fear of imagined reality.
But in the video the other day, Beth was saying how she was afraid she'd fail God. She'd try and fail. And then it hit her: that all-encompasing strength that renews broken spirits and heals past wounds and gives gifts to the ungifted.
God will not fail you.
That's right. Of course. What was I thinking?
And I peel myself up once again, trusting in One who is and will always be enough.
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 6:00 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thankfulness
56. warm, homecooked breakfast with Bob
57. a whole weekend off together
58. news of a pending new niece or nephew
59. new life for a church sister through liver transplantation
60. Sunday afternoon lunch with the in-laws
61. apple crisp with ice cream
62. a little boy in Honduras staring back from a cardboard picture frame
63. late evening walks hand in hand
64. meeting friends unexpectedly on such walks
65. Sunday school kids belting out songs with all their heart
66. a new computer
67. a morning rain on parched earth
68. calls from cross-country friends
69. being a nurse that the "difficult family" likes
70. being just a little bit ahead (maybe just caught up) in school
Posted by Sarah Blanshan at 8:23 AM 1 comments
Labels: 1000 gifts

