Working, Napping, and Running

8:51 pm Tuesday, April 22nd - Finally sitting down to work on a blog post I thought I would have started about an hour ago. I also thought by 8pm, I would have been down to the softball field with my roommate to help with the 10 and under team she is coaching.

I had helped at both practices last week, which can be challenging; yet, I enjoy it, as it reminds me how much I enjoyed playing softball. We had a pretty decent team back in ole Boom'n Newman 10-11 years ago. Gee wiz. 

Now back to why I did not end up going to practice on the beautiful Tuesday evening. I was sitting working on some statistics homework after a little shift at work in the morning and some baking and cooking in the afternoon at home. I received a phone call from work asking if I was home and could come up and help as someone did not make it in for work. "Be right there!" Okay, not right away. More like in 10 minutes. I was actually amid taking a quiz online, which I needed to finish before I went up. Got up there, and dove right into helping out with the duties for the short shift. Whispers of "boy, Jessica sure has been a lot lately." They had a right to say that. My hours do pile up some times.

Let's look back at the week including Easter. Going into Monday morning, I had the following shifts planned: Monday 1:30p-4p, Tuesday 2:30p-4:45p, Friday 1p-7:30p, Saturday 11a-11p, Sunday 6:30a-11p. Yep, I was signed up for some doubles over the weekend. I was originally scheduled to work Sunday during the day, but then someone asked if I could cover part of their day shift on Saturday, and I figured sure I'm already here. Then, someone said they were going to ask if I wanted to take her 2nd shifts for the weekend but noticed I was already working. I proceeded to tell her I could probably cover hers anyway, so she could be with her family since I was staying in town anyway. Nothing wrong with a few double shifts from time to time. 

I also was signed up for a 5k run Saturday morning in Syracuse. Running started to become one of my things about a year ago, and this was going to be my first 5k race. I can't even remember what days they were anymore, but I was asked to work the day shift on Wednesday. Sure. Then, the 3rd shift for Friday night. Well... okay, sure. I can manage. Let some of the other girls have some family time. Then, asked for Thursday 3rd shift. Ended up with a pretty full week of work on my hands. 

Believe me, I know looking forward I do not want to always be a workaholic. It doesn't happen every week, but sometimes that's just the way the chips fall. Here I am a single lady without any kids, and all the other ladies I work with are in different predicaments. I'm already here, so let them have some of the time with their families they don't always get. That's a hidden part of my job description as the "on-call"/ floater at work. My feet sure did get tired after some of those longer days, but all in all they flew by pretty quickly.

I still got the classwork I needed to get done on the side, I got some practice runs in for the upcoming 5k, and I smiled constantly. I know I smile a lot, but it's funny when some of the residents comment on it.

4pm Thursday, April 24th - Rode the bike home from my little shift at work, went on a 2.5 mile run, and took a little power hour nap. I ran 2 miles on Monday, 3 on Tuesday, and took Wednesday off.

5:45 pm - Went with Karena to softball practice. This time I just helped out in the batting cage. Back on Tuesday, I was the base runner for a while, then the catcher. It must be noted that I never played catcher in the years I was on a team. Not too shabby. Gotta admit I'm probably in better shape now. ;-) I was a little sore, though. Maybe from the sprints running bases compared to the jogging my body has been more used to lately. 

8pm - Finished an assignment for class, crawled into bed, and set the alarm for 10:30pm.

11pm - Clocked in at work.

7 am Friday, April 18th - Walking home from work I witnessed another beautiful sunrise. Sunrises and sunsets are still two of my favorite things. These photos from my phone do not do the colors justice at all, but I couldn't help but enjoy a walk home looking at this and trying to take a few photos with what I had to remind me of it.

7:30am - Crawled into bed for a nap.

9am - After waking up from the nap, during which I hit the snooze a few times, I laced up my sneakers and went on a 3 mile run. Figured since I knew I'd be going into the 5k race coming off an overnight shift, this would be a good opportunity to see how I handled it on a practice run. Went pretty smoothly.

11:30am - Laid back down for another nap.

1pm - Clocked in at work, where I spent a few hours helping prepare these fresh flowers in individual vials for this Easter cross I would be seeing on Sunday at work. Made for some sore hands. haha We set up the not so nice looking cross covered in chicken wire sitting in the dining room where these flowers would be heading.

3:30pm - Clocked out, headed home, and did a little assignment.

4:30pm - Clocked back in for the short supper shift.

7:30pm - Headed home and headed into bed.

11pm - Clocked back in at work.

7am Saturday, April 19th - Walked home, and made myself a little pre-run breakfast - a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana. Changed into my running clothes, laid down, and set the alarm for 8:15am.

9:20am - Did the 1 mile walk with the Danner family.

9:50am - Started running the 5k.

10:18am - Crossed the finish line after running up and down many a hills. Woo doggie. The most hills I had been hitting all week, but I ended up clocking my best time all week. Nothing like a little "race" adrenaline.  Felt pretty good about a 28 minute finish time for my first ever 5k race. I've ran the miles before, but never in in this setting.

I ran by myself, but Karena and the family were there waiting for me afterward. I don't look so pretty afterward, but hey I just ran a 5k. :-)

The nurse I work with at Linden View is a big runner, and was one of the organizers of this 5k. She also knew I had worked all night before and knew I had more ahead of me.

10:45am - Clocked back in at work after a quick shower after the race.

11pm - Clocked out, went home, and slept 6.5 hours. 6.5 hours! Not just the 1 or 2 I had been getting the past few times I laid down in my bed.

6:30am Sunday, April 20th - Clocked back in at work with a full double shift ahead of me - 16 hours minus the two lunch breaks.

9:30am - The not so beautiful cross ended up covered in the fresh flowers we had "slaved" to prepare. It brought a big smile to my face on the beautiful Sunday morning. Happy Easter!

Sure, I was at work, but there are quite a few people in the world that do. I'm doing my best to make family time when I can, give some of the other girls a chance, and know that depending on where I end up working as a nurse, some holidays are part of the deal. I still got to spend the day surrounded with some love, some smiles, and some beauty.

11pm - Clocked out, walked home, watched a little TV, and crawled into bed with NO ALARM SET.

10am Monday, April 21st - Rolled over to see it was 10am. Slept in and was ready to begin my relaxing day just at home. Spent a good deal of it in my bed, reading and simply staying put.

5pm - Took my book out to the backyard to sit in the sun and wind a bit while reading. Spring!

6pm - Helped the roommate clean up some of the flower beds in the backyard.

10:30pm - Headed to bed around normal time, feeling nice and recuperated, and ready to see what else life brings throughout the week.

Hope you all had a nice Easter weekend, enjoy some of the spring weather this week shall bring, and remember to find things that make you smile throughout the week. Have a great rest of the week!

A Little Season Confusion

One day it's sunny with a slight breeze, and I am walking around in shorts and a t-shirt at the Spring Red and White Game at Memorial Stadium. That nigh it's refreshing to be spending some time in the cool basement with a good group of friends.

We girls love playing Hedbanz. We have the new spin-off version Act-Up, which includes some charades.

I have been enjoying playing pool in the basement. We spent some time a few weeks ago rearranging a bit down there in the man cave, giving us a little more room around the pool table. Every now and then I'll go practice / play against myself. Still make some of those mistakes like scratching on the 8-ball from time to time, which is an automatic loss, but I think I'm improving overall.

I hope that 10 years from now my friends and I are still taking a random fun photo like this. :-)

The next morning I wake up to the soothing sound of some rain, and I walk out and am thankful for some moisture. The wind picks up as the day goes on, and it becomes not as pleasant. It turned into snow before the day was over, and some people were stranded where they were in other parts of the state due to unsafe road conditions.

Woke up that following morning to below freezing temperatures, but later that day the sun came out and it felt like a cool spring day. I was in charge of the April birthday party at work that day. We played a little game to get to know the residents, I played on my ukulele, and we ate some cake and ice cream. I played some short and simple songs, but it was fun.

... a month later

My roommate said to me the other day: "Have you not had any journeys lately?" She was referring to how I have not blogged lately as the title is "Journey with Jessica" :-) I replied, "Well, adventures have taken place, but time keeps getting away from me and I haven't quite had a big creative strike lately. I think it's been about a month since I posted last." We checked, and I was right. It has been a month.

I tell ya, I almost can't keep up anymore. Okay... that's a lie. I still get everything done that I need to, have some fun, and relax. Yet, it's time to flip the calendar to the next month before I know it. Days I have sat here and thought it's about time I write again, but then I would decide to just relax a bit more on a given day.

About 2.5 weeks ago, the Danner siblings and I successfully completed the 6-week intro karate class - Uechi Ryu style. Fun, culture, flexibility, strength, mentality, and a new experience! 

One Saturday night some of our friends came down for craft and game night. We all met while at Morningside College, and this was the most of us we had gotten together in a while.

Girls crafting in the kitchen

Hedbanz - one of our favorite games in college

The boys finally decided to teach the girls one of their new games - King of Tokyo

Had fun with it

I caught up with my cousin Rebecca in Nebraska City as she was presenting at GNSEF, the Greater Nebraska Science and Engineering Fair. I participate in this science fair 7th-12th grade. Brought back some memories, and it was fun for me to see what projects students are working with these days.

Back to the science fair.... I also ran into one of my old science fair advisors who now teaches at a different school and her daughter. I used to babysit for Michayla and her brother when she was maybe in 1st grade. Man, has she grown up, too.

I made a little 40-minute trip to Peru, NE to attend the Piano Extravaganza at Peru State College, where Miss Rebecca was one of the participating pianists with her music teacher. It was fun to hear so many pianos play at once - 10-15 duets at once.

Growing up in Newman Grove, Becca and I did many things together while she grew up including some fun photo shoots in matching outfits.

As the "fill-in/floater" at work, my schedule has varied a lot over the past 4 months. One night at 9pm, I was thinking about heading to my room to read for a while before turning out the lights. I get a phone call that asks if I can come in for the 11pm-7am shift. Next thing, I was putting work clothes on and heading in for work. No problemo! 

It's hard to believe I'm that close to a 6-month mark. Starting April 27th, I will have some of my own scheduled hours on the 6:30-3 shift! Not a full-time schedule yet, but that gives me a little flexibility to still help cover some of the other shifts as needed throughout the week. It will be nice to have some regularity again for now, especially while I am taking more pre-requisite classes for nursing school. April 2nd was the beginning of the Spring term at Southeast Community College. I am taking Statistics and Human Anatomy this term, still just online.

Went in to Lincoln today with my roommates as I needed to swing by the bookstore. I ended up having a rather productive and enjoyable day. Picked up my lab books for Anatomy class; slowly ate some breakfast while I worked on some Statistics homework and a quiz at Village Inn; sold a few clothes to a 2nd-hand store; picked up a few groceries; enjoyed some afternoon dessert at Carlos O Kelly's while I flipped through my new books; visited with my brother while he was on study break at his house; went on a 2.2 mile run in the sun in a neighborhood with Preamble Lane, Constitution Ave, Minutemen Rd, Boston Dr, and Valley Forge Rd; enjoyed a little dinner at Braeda with my roommates on our way back home.

For a year of my life, I was really good about writing a blog post a couple times each week - my year living and teaching in American Samoa. Now here I am with a month in between posts.

I know a lot of people do not hesitate to agree when someone says, "where has the time gone?" I hope that in our journeys through life we remember to be thankful, smile as much as possible, do things we enjoy, take chances, help others, and spend time with ones we care about. Hope you are all having a great week. It's beginning to feel a lot like spring out there, hence my choice of the green dress for my day in Lincoln. :-)