- These are actually the lyrics to a song I had forgotten about until my roomate had found it on an old cd from highschool. For once we actually really listened to the words... I like it so much I'm going to make it into something I can hang in my house - lots of truth to it, and a lot of things we should all remind ourselves daily...
"Wear Sunscreen"
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
– your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go ,but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Morning,
Here's the thing. It's 463 degrees outisde and I got home last night to a house that - if those little meters on the wall are at all accurate - was a blazing 86 degrees. Now, I will tell you that I am not one who is fond of sleeping on top of all my covers half naked like a poor college student who can't afford to turn the AC on. Needless to say, the girls of Franklin St. were not especially happy this am and intend to spend the entire day hunting down and stalking whomever it is that is going to fix this bologna. And they had better; she's tall and I'm scrappy and we're entirely too overheated to mess with at this point.
On top of that, our previously broken, miraculously fixed (by that I mean that the repair man came and it turned on the second he hit the knob) dryer of 11 months has gone on strike again. I suppose it's perfect now that we live in a sauna and can just throw our clothes all over the house to dry. I'm currently couting down the minutes until I can call the Nebraska Furniture Mart and GE to harrass them about it. Because I will tell you right now that these two things are the perfect recipe for a very crabby household.
After lunch today I scanned a patient who couldn't communicate with me - or her husband - anyone..because she had a stroke. You could tell her sweet little husband has been by her side and loved her more than anything else in this whole entire world and she didn't seem to even know who he was. He tried to hold her hand in comfort and she got angry and pushed him away. But he still stood by her. He later told me she had her stroke in 1992 and has been this way for 17 years. It was then that I was strangly thankful for the brief time span between the day we found out Grandma had cancer and the day we said goodbye. Some of the smallest blessings are very hard to see...and sometimes those tiny little blessings are actually much greater than any of us realize. And a lot of the things that stress me out every single day, things I think are so horrible and overwhelming just seem so small now.
On that note, I am ready for the camping trip. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to pack nothing but a a swimsuit and beer.
Love, Kristen
Here's the thing. It's 463 degrees outisde and I got home last night to a house that - if those little meters on the wall are at all accurate - was a blazing 86 degrees. Now, I will tell you that I am not one who is fond of sleeping on top of all my covers half naked like a poor college student who can't afford to turn the AC on. Needless to say, the girls of Franklin St. were not especially happy this am and intend to spend the entire day hunting down and stalking whomever it is that is going to fix this bologna. And they had better; she's tall and I'm scrappy and we're entirely too overheated to mess with at this point.
On top of that, our previously broken, miraculously fixed (by that I mean that the repair man came and it turned on the second he hit the knob) dryer of 11 months has gone on strike again. I suppose it's perfect now that we live in a sauna and can just throw our clothes all over the house to dry. I'm currently couting down the minutes until I can call the Nebraska Furniture Mart and GE to harrass them about it. Because I will tell you right now that these two things are the perfect recipe for a very crabby household.
After lunch today I scanned a patient who couldn't communicate with me - or her husband - anyone..because she had a stroke. You could tell her sweet little husband has been by her side and loved her more than anything else in this whole entire world and she didn't seem to even know who he was. He tried to hold her hand in comfort and she got angry and pushed him away. But he still stood by her. He later told me she had her stroke in 1992 and has been this way for 17 years. It was then that I was strangly thankful for the brief time span between the day we found out Grandma had cancer and the day we said goodbye. Some of the smallest blessings are very hard to see...and sometimes those tiny little blessings are actually much greater than any of us realize. And a lot of the things that stress me out every single day, things I think are so horrible and overwhelming just seem so small now.
On that note, I am ready for the camping trip. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to pack nothing but a a swimsuit and beer.
Love, Kristen
Monday, June 22, 2009
Dear All,
I got to spend this past weekend with my family and it reminded me how important they all are. Last week presented with a personal ultimatum, I guess you could say. The decision was made to remove certain people - or - a certain person from my life. It was a difficult decision, and one I have struggled with for far too long. But when you put into a friendship all the things that one should, and they aren't reciprocated, I suppose you have to ask yourself why you're letting someone pull you down and keep you from enjoying life and growing as a person. A situation I would have written Grandma about, and I know exactly what kind of response I would have gotten. Grandma was the greatest supporter of me, and she was always the first to show me how proud she was, where I had gotten and where I was going. Long story short I spent the weekend in South Dakota, where for once I just took time to relax and appreciate all the people around me. No workouts, no stress, not even any makeup! It was a much needed "staycation" and it made me feel completely refreshed when I returned home to Omaha. There is nothing Omaha can throw at me that my family can't get me through. I have the greatest family in the whole entire world.
And then there is Omaha; the monotony I now know is the real world. Get up, go to the gym, to work and home...to bed and do it all over again. Mix in some eating, a little tv, maybe some laundry and it's usually just the same thing day after day. I love my career, but many days - especially in our current economical situation - don't usually like my job. I love my patients - for the most part - and that's usually what keeps a smile on my face. What I don't like is being micromanaged, being consistently held under a microscope to be told only what we're doing wrong. It's exhausting, and eventually, nobody even cares to try anymore. But things will get better, and tomorrow will be better - it will - my Grandma told me so. Until then, I'm just waiting until tomorrow.
My goal today is to get through this week. I work 10 hours shifts all week and have a list of things to do nearly every night. Should keep me busy and get me to the much anticipated weekend sooner. I'm looking foward to the camping trip I have planned with my family in Des Moines. It's definitely just what I need, In fact, I think it's what everybody needs. According to my brother, the Miller Lite drinking starts with breakfast, and I intend to keep up. I'm more excited for this weekend than I have been for anything in a long time and it has been entirely too long since I have seen Jason, Tonya and little Miss Hannah. Tonya and I have big plans to catch up on life, even though we spend hours on the phone doing exactly that. She's the best sister in law in the world though, I owe my life to her for some of the things she has gotten me through. My brother is good at a lot of things, very smart, too...but I think one of his greatest accomplishments was finding her, followed closely by that perfect little angel I get to call my goddaughter. Many people come and go in life, I'm lucky to have a brother that I know will always be my brother, always be my friend and always kick the ass of whoever tries to eff with his little sister.
It's entirely too hot here. 85 degrees at 5 am, and what feels like 227 percent humidity. I don't think I should be expected to do anything but throw on a swim suit and float around in a pool all day. But that won't pay the rent, so to work I go, saving limbs and lives, one doppler at a time.
Love,
Kristen
I got to spend this past weekend with my family and it reminded me how important they all are. Last week presented with a personal ultimatum, I guess you could say. The decision was made to remove certain people - or - a certain person from my life. It was a difficult decision, and one I have struggled with for far too long. But when you put into a friendship all the things that one should, and they aren't reciprocated, I suppose you have to ask yourself why you're letting someone pull you down and keep you from enjoying life and growing as a person. A situation I would have written Grandma about, and I know exactly what kind of response I would have gotten. Grandma was the greatest supporter of me, and she was always the first to show me how proud she was, where I had gotten and where I was going. Long story short I spent the weekend in South Dakota, where for once I just took time to relax and appreciate all the people around me. No workouts, no stress, not even any makeup! It was a much needed "staycation" and it made me feel completely refreshed when I returned home to Omaha. There is nothing Omaha can throw at me that my family can't get me through. I have the greatest family in the whole entire world.
And then there is Omaha; the monotony I now know is the real world. Get up, go to the gym, to work and home...to bed and do it all over again. Mix in some eating, a little tv, maybe some laundry and it's usually just the same thing day after day. I love my career, but many days - especially in our current economical situation - don't usually like my job. I love my patients - for the most part - and that's usually what keeps a smile on my face. What I don't like is being micromanaged, being consistently held under a microscope to be told only what we're doing wrong. It's exhausting, and eventually, nobody even cares to try anymore. But things will get better, and tomorrow will be better - it will - my Grandma told me so. Until then, I'm just waiting until tomorrow.
My goal today is to get through this week. I work 10 hours shifts all week and have a list of things to do nearly every night. Should keep me busy and get me to the much anticipated weekend sooner. I'm looking foward to the camping trip I have planned with my family in Des Moines. It's definitely just what I need, In fact, I think it's what everybody needs. According to my brother, the Miller Lite drinking starts with breakfast, and I intend to keep up. I'm more excited for this weekend than I have been for anything in a long time and it has been entirely too long since I have seen Jason, Tonya and little Miss Hannah. Tonya and I have big plans to catch up on life, even though we spend hours on the phone doing exactly that. She's the best sister in law in the world though, I owe my life to her for some of the things she has gotten me through. My brother is good at a lot of things, very smart, too...but I think one of his greatest accomplishments was finding her, followed closely by that perfect little angel I get to call my goddaughter. Many people come and go in life, I'm lucky to have a brother that I know will always be my brother, always be my friend and always kick the ass of whoever tries to eff with his little sister.
It's entirely too hot here. 85 degrees at 5 am, and what feels like 227 percent humidity. I don't think I should be expected to do anything but throw on a swim suit and float around in a pool all day. But that won't pay the rent, so to work I go, saving limbs and lives, one doppler at a time.
Love,
Kristen
Until cancer recently claimed her life, I was blessed with one of the very best penpals the Lord could give me. Since her death, I have learned how important her weekly letters had become to me, and maybe even more so, how important it had become to me to have someone I could sit down and write to. I'm not good at keeping a journal, it feels pointless for me to - write a letter to myself - I suppose you could say, so I'm going to give this a try in an attempt to fill the void. Consider them letters to heaven, to my family and to anyone else who might find the life of a 23 year old living in Omaha to be interesting.
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