Infectious summer.

Summer in western Montana is short, at least by my midwestern standards. I think of summer as the sweltering, endless days and warm muggy nights of my youth. Summer here means gorgeous, long sunny days, but the heat isn't the same. The month of July generally provides the only truly sizzling temperatures of our summer - frenzied, jam-packed days of sunshine and hiking and rivers and cheap beer and good friends, trying to drink it all in before summer burns out. Somewhere around the first week of August the fever of summer breaks - the temperatures are still warm, but the sun feels weaker, as though it's winding down for the season. The crisp alpine air rolls in nightly, bringing with it faint smells of autumn, even while the calendar attests summer.
Once again the feverish summer days are drawing to a close, and fall is just around the corner.

Two beautiful days and a school update.

For two days the sky has been a dazzling electric blue, and the mercury rose clear into the upper sixties. The crisp, spicy scent of fallen leaves is dense in the air.

Lovely.

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Today was my last day of inpatient clinicals for the semester. Pediatrics was a good learning experience, but I'm pretty sure it isn't the specialty for me. However, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed obstetrics - specifically the postpartum unit. I really like doing patient education, and there's a lot of teaching we can do with new moms. I also liked getting to know the families. It was nice to be a part of such a happy time in patient's lives.
Next up is two weeks of outpatient OB clinicals, followed by two weeks of outpatient pediatrics. I can't believe how fast this semester is flying by!

Two weeks in a row I had both a paper and a care plan* due. It made for a lot of writing and some pretty stress-filled days. As I turned in my second paper, I felt immediately lighter and more carefree. I have one more big paper due this semester, and two presentations to give - but everything from here on out is more evenly spaced out, and with my hospital clinicals being over I'll have more time to get everything done. Perhaps now I can start planning a wedding...


*Care plans are huge write ups about the patient care we provide in the hospital. We write about the patient's medical history, the pathophysiology of their illness, list the tests and procedures they've had done, and document findings from our own assessments of the patient. We then come up with possible nursing diagnoses and interventions we can do while caring for the patient. In the hospital they're mostly a generic form included in the chart, and you only need to select which diagnoses apply to your specific patient. In school, however, they're a pretty involved project.They're a great tool for learning the material and understanding how the pieces fit together, but they're also a total pain in the butt.

Old man winter.

The wind tonight smells like snow.

It won't be long now...

All things miscellany...

Due to the large number of projects I've taken on for this year, I figured that I might be a little more stressed than normal.
Yep.
There's this constant low-level stress humming in the background of my head almost all the time lately. I feel like I'm managing okay, and I think that I'll get everything done that needs to be done. Sadly, when I get busy, the first thing to go is my social life. The second thing to go is my skin. So basically, this fall I've become a recluse with acne.

Missoula is so beautiful in the fall - the neighborhood near campus is a riot of reds and oranges. I love the cool, crisp smell of the autumn leaves.

I'm a feminist and a cynic, so I have a tough time with some of the wedding crowd. For example, I like the idea of do-it-yourself wedding projects, but I have a hard time not poking fun at some of the women on the wedding websites. They all have screen names and graphics that say things like "257 days until I get MARRIED!!!" or "future Mrs. Peterson!" Seriously, gag me with a cake topper. I understand the excitement of getting married, and I understand being excited about having a wedding. I know that these girls are probably just giddy in love, and that I shouldn't be so judgemental. But, I hate the idea of a woman basing her sense of self worth solely on her marital status, and I sincerely hope that they realize how wonderful and important they are all by themselves, whether a Mrs. or not...

Last week was my first week of ob clinicals, and I got to watch a young woman give birth. It was the first birth I've ever been present for, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The joy in that room was so tangible it made my heart swell. It was human nature at its' best, its' most pure. It makes me excited about starting my own family someday...

I came to work this evening, and there was a huge jar of candy setting on the counter next to my computer. I, being the good girl, relocated it to the break room. However... I, also being the hormonal one, have been back to visit the break room three times since. :)

Tomorrow I'm running a 5k in the 2007 Pumpkin Run. I've never done a 5k before, and I'm hoping that I can push myself to go a little faster than my usual pace, since it's only 3.1 miles. Proceeds from the event go to the Missoula Food Bank. Should be a good time.

Another year, and other updates.

Yesterday was the first day of classes this semester. I'm impressed by my professors, as they all seem organized and highly competent. The organizational factor makes a difference in the student experience for any class, but particularly so in nursing classes. We divide our time between classroom lectures, lab simulations, and in- and outpatient clinical settings, so if the teacher or course isn't very organized it becomes a scheduling nightmare.
I'm excited for my clinicals this semester. This fall we're in obstetrics and pediatrics, so there's all sorts of settings we'll get to work in - hospital for deliveries, pediatrics and NICU, pediatrician's offices, school nurse offices, hearing and eye screenings for children. We might get to do some health teaching classes with kids. It will be a nice change from med/surg.

Around the 20th of August a damp, cool weather front moved through, which cleared the smoke and helped to calm the fires a bit. Sadly, between the cooler weather and the prior weeks of gray smoky skies, we ended summer early this year. My tan lines faded even before classes began. As I'm writing this, the temperature on my desktop weather reads 44°.

This Saturday is the first Griz football game of the season. I wasn't able to go any last year (I was scheduled to work during every home game!), so I'm excited to get to a couple this season. I may be an MSU student, but I'm still a Griz fan. :)

Summer is a bowl of Flathead cherries.

It’s a quiet day at the office today. I’m sitting with the wastebasket pulled up next to my chair, so I have someplace to deposit pits as I eat my way steadily through a bowl full of ripe Flathead cherries. Cherries are one of the many lovely things about summer. (Of course, for me, various fruits comprise at least half of my list of ‘favorite summer things’… but that’s another post.) I adore the summers in Western Montana, but they are much shorter than I’m used to. In the Midwest, summer is still in full force through the month of August, and often the summer heat hangs in the air into September. Here in Montana, however, August seems to signal the beginning of the end of summer. The night temperatures begin faithfully dipping back down to the 50’s, sunset quickly recedes back into early evening, and even the sunshine feels weaker, as though resigned to allow cooler weather to take back over.
As summer slips away, I always feel tugging sense of loss. Another season of cold to endure before we return to backyard barbecues, camping, and tubing on the river. Fortunately, my cheer returns with the first breath of autumn in the air. Fall is my favorite season, hands down. I love the smells, and the baking, and new jeans and sweaters, and the football games, and the coziness.
Looking back through old entries, I’ve noticed that shifting of the seasons is a recurring topic in my writing. I’m captivated by the subtle changes that move us from season to season. Perhaps it’s my distant Native American heritage peeking through, but I feel drawn to the earth as it renews itself. There’s something awe inspiring about the first shoots of green pushing through the cold hard ground, or the first leaf crisping and falling from its branch. Change is inevitable, change is necessary. Change is beautiful.

I look forward to one more bowl of cherries before fall.