Thanksgiving Thankfulness...

In the spirit of thanksgiving I’ve spent the whole month of November praying to recognize the Lord’s hand in my life and being grateful for the small miracles that happen everyday. I wrote down on my calendar each day something that I was especially grateful for and it has truly been a humbling experience to see how much the Lord has infiltrated my life and how much He blesses me.

November 1: Prayer

Seems fairly self explanatory but I was rather agitated all day, I was frustrated with my patients but mainly with myself that I wasn’t calming down – it wasn’t till I really sat down and prayed about it that I started calming down.

November 2: One of the facilities was a joint visit

This particular facility is always a joint visit on shower day but the last shower day the other aid called in sick so I went by myself and it took me three hours – today I went again and I actually had help, it only took two hours and the visit went so much smoother and calmer.

November 3: Fall Colors

Everywhere I look it’s fall, the leaves are golden, red, yellow and orange – I love the fall!

November 4: Visits went Smoothly

All my visits went smoothly today – at the conclusion of a long week all I wanted was everything to go well, sometimes it doesn’t but it did today.

November 5: It Snowed

It was not my weekend to work so I could enjoy the snow from the comfort of my home without stressing about the roads or anything.

November 6: Went to Church

The nature of my job being what it is, I don’t always get to church every Sunday but today I did, it was simply fabulous and very calming.

November 7: Payday

I live for payday, it’s the best two days out of the entire month – unfortunately there always seems to be more month left after I’ve spent my money but we’re slowly making headway on my bills and what not.

November 8: Drove to Holladay

At first I didn’t like going to Holladay because I’d always get lost while I was there but now that I’m more familiar with it I love going to Holladay – it’s gorgeous and has the best trees.

November 9: Sunglasses

After loaning my sunglasses out and then finally getting them back I broke them, I was without sunglasses for a couple of weeks before I bought some more and this morning I was so grateful that I had because it was super super bright.

November 10: Not a Crazy Day at the Office

I was filling in at the office today - answering the phone, filing paperwork, answering questions, etc and it was fairly calm and quite, it wasn’t that bad, which I greatly appreciated.

November 11: Got Everything Done

I’d taken the day off, got my car fixed, my room clean, my laundry washed and generally everything done before I left for the weekend.

November 12: Visited my Parents

I went to Colorado for the weekend and visited my parents and younger brothers – my older brother and my friend came with me and it was a good visit.

November 13: Not Stuck in Laramie

In the process of getting back to Utah, the interstate out of Laramie was shut down due to an accident and probably wouldn’t reopen till morning – we found another way and continued on.

November 14: Ate Sushi

I had sushi for a late lunch today and it was delicious! I also locked my keys and my phone in the car but thankfully I was somewhere where I could get help and fifteen minutes, three people, two screwdrivers and two wire hangers later I had my keys back.

November 15: Residents fall wasn’t Worse

When I got to my last visit I found my resident’s door locked and her lying on the floor, with no recollection of how she got there or how long she’d been there but she wasn’t hurt.

November 16: Found new Admits Address

Going off of vague directions I found our new patients residence on the first try – which doesn’t always happen.

November 17: Meeting wasn’t completely Dreadful

We had a mandatory meeting and despite being pointless and a waste of time and horribly boring, it wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it was going to be.

November 18: I’ve decided to go back to School

I went to an orientation meeting today about nursing school and have decided to go back to school if I can financially swing it – the difference between todays meeting and yesterdays meeting was that todays meeting was very short and actually had a point whereas yesterdays meeting didn’t.

November 19: Didn’t Crash

After work I went up to Bountiful and spent some time with my nieces and nephew while my brother-in-law took my nephew out to the football game, they got back quite late and since I had work the next day I needed to leave right away – despite the late hour and being tired I got back to Sandy safely and in one piece.

November 20: My Headache Finally Went Away

Woke up with another migraine this morning and eventually, in the late afternoon, it went away – hooray!

November 21: Started the Process

I started the application process this morning to go to nursing school – the first test was a CPAT which was basically just to prove that I can think intelligently. The next test is the HESI which they actually use for entrance, then there’s the background check, the essay, the interview with the doctor and then all the financial hoops to jump through.

November 22: Made a Fruit Pie

I went grocery shopping today, came back home and made a fabulous fruit pie which I later ate that night – it was delicious!

November 23: Plan of Salvation

One of my residents died today and while I wasn’t particularly close to him, it made me think and remember what my institute teacher said the day before – in relation to the plan of salvation the question, “it’s true isn’t it?” was brought forth. Driving down the road I found myself asking the same question, “it’s true isn’t it?” I am here to tell you that it is, it is true, of that there is no doubt – we continue on after we die, this is not all there is.

November 24: Family/Friends/Opportunities

Today was Thanksgiving and I was working but it was as I was working and completing my visits that it hit me how thankful I am for my family, my friends and all the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with.

November 25: Not Nauseated anymore

I woke up with a huge headache from hitting my head against the frame of my car last night and I was dizzy and nausea most of the day but eventually it went away and I felt fine.

November 26: Calmed Down

Me and everybody else woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning but through a lot of prayer and meditation I was able to calm down and relax. I’m puzzled as to why I got so worked up so quickly when in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter.

November 27: Nice Relaxing Day

I was able to go to church again today and it was just a nice calming, relaxing day – very soothing.

November 28: Utilities less than Expected

Got an email from my landlord with the amount due for utilities and it was lower than previous bills – it was a nice surprise.

November 29: Just a Good Day

It was just a good day – the night before last I’d gotten two to three hours of sleep which made the next day rather interesting but last night I got ten hours of sleep which made today a much better day and I felt so much more alert and competent. My body is doing this really obnoxious thing where I’m tired and groggy all day long but as soon as the sun sets or it’s time to actually go to bed I wake up and am wide awake for the rest of the night and won’t be tired again till a couple hours before I’m suppose to be awake – like I said it’s obnoxious and I wish my body would stop it.

November 30: My Birthday Card Came

Monday, I went out on a visit – she died later that night. Tuesday, I went out on another visit – she died that afternoon. Today I went out on a third visit, he died while I was working with him – never mind that these patients status was GIP and they were going to die very soon anyway, I felt like I had the touch of death.

I felt rather guilty about the third one, like I had somehow sped it up because I was giving him a bed bath at the time – but, I know that it was not my fault and that it is okay. Even though my next three patients were very much alive, I still felt melancholy and blue. But when I got home my birthday card from my parents was waiting for me – it sang to me, imagine a hive of bees buzzing to the tune of “Happy Birthday”, it totally made me laugh and helped lighten the mood. And then I went to my friends place and that helped too.