Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

Mindfulness is seeing things

with fresh eyes, with a

beginner's mind rather than a

jaded, world-weary sigh.

Making a Doctor Appointment - Escapades in Adulting

 

Trying to make a doctor appointment can often be a long, drawn-out process.  As a child, I never had to do that because Mom always scheduled our appointments. But now that it is one my own personal responsibilities, it seems to be either incredibly easy or incredibly difficult.  Actually, the problem seems to be when I'm a new patient and not when I'm established already.  Whenever I need to see my PCP, I just hope onto a website and make the appointment.  Easy peasy!  It is when I am a referred patient that it becomes a monumental task.

When I was referred to cardiology, it was a long game of phone tag. I don't answer calls from numbers I do not know and even when I saved their number into my phone, it was messages back and forth. Once we were able to connect in real time, the appointment was several months out.  While not the preferred outcome at the time, I accepted it because I knew they were busy with many patients. I did subsequently get an earlier appointment, which was a blessing.  But the thing is, when you're a new patient, you don't get access through the website to make appointments.  You have to be an existing patient of that practice. Frustrating, but it is what it is.

So, now I am trying to schedule an appointment with the pulmonary department. They reached out to me last week and I was unable to take the call.  That was a mistake, but again, I'm not answering if I don't know the number.  But here is the problem.  Since I can't make an appointment online, the hours that I can call them are while I am at work.  And while my work is ok with doing this sort of thing during business hours, I feel bad for trying to do that.  Yet, I have tried several times this week to no avail.  Being on hold is frustrating, I get that.  But after 15, 20 minutes, I can no longer stay on the call.  I hate that I have wasted that time, but I can only take so much time away from my own job to do this.

Ah, the endless cycle of fun that this is.  I will try again today to schedule the appointment.  Wish me luck because I'm going to need it!

Capstone application is in!

 

Well, I got my capstone class application submitted, and it was approved.  I did not doubt that it was approved because I have everything in place I need to be enrolled in the class.  Well, almost everything.  I have taken all of my prerequisite classes that I must have to be in the capstone class.  Now all I need is an idea.  I will start formulating that this week.  My advisor and my professor are both available for help with that.  I will need to do several rough drafts of that project idea before April 1st.  First, I need to reread the capstone handbook and then rewatch the presentation Dr. Caro did on the capstone project.  I can do that soon. 

I know that I have said this before, but while there are several different kinds of projects I can do, I will need to find something to do within the borders of my workplace.  As much as I would like to do an internship somewhere, considering that this is our only chance for hands on experience in this program, I cannot afford to take seven weeks away from work.  They would be unpaid, and I am not prepared for that. However, that does not mean that I will not make the most of this opportunity.  We have three different communities where I work:  independent living, assisted living and memory care.  Since I have worked most in independent living, I am going to begin thinking about something to do in assisted living or memory care.  I will also work on something for IL, but I would rather it be something in one of the other communities.  Thinking ahead, I feel that will make me more marketable if I get a job somewhere outside of Kisco.  

We will see how it goes. I am looking forward to this challenge and am ready for it!

Each antique needs a place

 Now that the holidays are over, it's truly time for me to put the decorations away.  I usually wait until right after epiphany to do that, but this year it has been delayed.  Mostly because of the weather.  Now, you may think that being cooped up inside the house would be the perfect opportunity to take down the decorations, but it's really not for me. Why?  All of my containers are out in the garage, and I didn't feel like stomping through the ice and snow to get to the garage to bring the containers inside.  Lazy, I know, but there you have it.

Anyway, as I prepare to take down Christmas this week, I am thinking about restocking the house with my antiques and collectibles. I know that I have too many of them, but I love them, and I love having them in my home. On a side note, this will be a good opportunity for me to cull my collections and find loving homes for things I no longer need or use.  But besides that, I have been thinking a lot about where to put things.  In many ways, I want my things to have a home.  Not as in be in my home, but to have a place inside my house where they belong. 

I think a lot about the houses of my past:  the home I grew up in, Grandmother's house, Aunt Billie's house, Aunt Sara's house, and I can tell you where things belonged in that house.  Most of what they had belonged in specific places in their homes.  In some ways, that is the comfort of those houses.  You went into them and you knew where things were.  I remember one time going to Billie's house and not seeing her cobalt beverage set in her curio cabinet, where it had always been.  When I asked her about it, she said she'd decided to take it out and wash it because it had been a long time. Then she offered it to me.  Of course, I said yes and now it sits in my dining room in the same curio cabinet I later inherited. 

But I can remember and tell you things about how the houses were decorated that, while they are of no consequence to others, bring back comforting memories for me.  Like I know that Aunt Sara's chocolate set sat on the chest of drawers in her living room.  Grandmother kept her mother's potato salad bowl in a pine cabinet in the breakfast room. Mom kept her printer's tray display hanging on the wall in the kitchen by the back door.  All of these things had specific homes with homes.  That's what I want.  As fun as it is to move things around, I like the routine of putting my antiques in their place.

So that is what I'm going to work on when I put my house back in order. I want to create a nostalgic home that people want to come and spend time in. I love it when people look around and ask questions. It's the little things that make my life happy right now.

That is all. 

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

Look at a tree,

a flower, a plant...

Allow nature to

Teach you stillness

Eckhart Tolle

50 at 50

 

This year, after just turning 50 years old, I have decided to attempt to do 50 different things throughout the year to celebrate my birthday.  In some ways, I see that as being totally possible.  In other ways, I find it very daunting.  I started compiling my list last month right after my 50th birthday party. Let me tell you, it is not that easy to come up with 50 different things that I want to do. As of today, I have just over 20 items on the list.  Maybe one of my 50 things should be to come up with 50 things LOL

So far, my list is comprised of several travel goals.  Just places that I would like to visit over the next year.  While some are doable like the NC mountains and Wilmington, some will take a little more strategic planning like NYC and Canada.  I'll need a passport for Canada, so that's on my list as well.  I have several practical goals like saving a certain amount of money and getting my credit card paid down. Then there are hobby goals like reading 25 books over the next year.  If you know me, even though I love reading, I'm a slow reader so this one is going to push me and I look forward to it!

There are some cultural goals like listening to live jazz and seeing shows.  In fact, my first goal is to the The Nutcracker on stage. I'd thought about going ahead and getting that one checked off over the holidays but even the cheapest seats were well over $100 and that just wasn't going to happen. This will help me to plan better during the year!

So, if you have any advice or any ideas on things I might want to consider adding to my list, just let me know.  By the way, I have a pretty good fear of heights, so anything like bungee jumping or skydiving will not be considered LOL  But I would really love some input and ideas from people who have either done something similar when they turned 50 or plan to when the time comes.  Thanks!

John 15:12

 Too many cherry pickers have forgotten this verse and what it means. Take His commandment to heart and life others up.  It's really not that difficult and can make a world of difference to someone.