New Job

   Since getting back from our anniversary trip, I started a new job.  I was not unhappy in my old job.  In fact I liked it quite a bit, so it was a hard decision to change.  I gave it alot of thought.  My new job is about 180 degrees different than my old job.  The patients are all different, the schedule is different, just about everything is different.  I feel a bit unsettled.  Also I'm learning alot.  It's hard to be new and trying to figure your way around.  It takes awhile to feel confident in your decisions.  Next week I'm going to the KY nurse practitioner conference and hope to get some good information to take back to my new job.  I look forward to learning opportunities.

Anniversary Trip

  This is a hard discipline to be faithful to.  I took a vacation and started a new job and haven't blogged about any of it.  I guess I'll start with our 25th anniversary and our vacation.  Back at Christmas my husband gave me this really strange present of a trip from Minnesota to New Orleans on the train.  We had some words over the whole thing.  This was to occur in one week and the thought of riding a train for a week did not appeal to me.  The whole thing put a damper on our Christmas and I get mad whenever I think about him giving me a trip on our anniversary as a Christmas gift.  He had good intentions but was misguided.  The Minnesota part was so that I could see The Prarie Home Companion, which I have listened to since I was 20.  Well as I later found out, the Prarie home Companion was going to be at Nashville at the Ryman on March 26th our anniversary.  The New Orleans part was so he could go to the WWII museum there.  So as it worked out, we went to Nashville and then down to New Orleans.  We had a wonderful time both places so maybe I can forget the whole Christmas present debacle.  We stayed at a great bed and breakfast in New Orleans which I'd recommend to anyone.  Look up The Green House Inn on Magazine street. (I need to learn how to add links here)   Garrison Keilor was great at the Ryman and friends were in Nashville at the same time so we got to spend some time with Cathy and Baker too.  I loved the city of New Orleans.  We enjoyed great drinks, food and shopping.  I love all the history there and I even enjoyed the WWII museum.  On the way home we went by my sisters, my aunt's and my mom's house.  It was great trip and we had a wonderful 25th anniversary celebration.  It was good to get away by ourselves.
   

Japan earthquake

  My heart goes out to all the Japanese people.  Living on the new madrid fault, I give some thought to earthquakes.  The ice storm two years ago, also gave me so idea of what it's like without electricity for a short amount of time.  I can't imagine what it's like to add a tsumani and nuclear meltdown.  My heart just goes out to people that have lost loved ones.  Loss of property can be unsettling.  It can take a long time to find normalacy again.
   My daughter's boyfriend has been in Japan since last fall.  We've been worried about him first because of the earthquake and now because of the nuclear reactors.  He is there helping out on a farm that teaches community leaders about sustainable agriculture.  I  think that mission would take a back seat to other work that would need to be done, but I don't know.  It's possible he could be come home early.  We just pray for his safety whatever happens.  And we send our thoughts and prayers to all the people in Japan.

Stuff continued

   My last post was posted actually before I finished it because I was trying to edit it.  So I thought I'd go ahead and finish those previous thoughts.
  Stuff- it just seems to take over.  After you're married with kids it's no longer just your stuff, it's also your husbands and kids.  It really seems to pile up.  Even if you want to get rid of things, it's really no longer in your control.  And often that's the big issue in all of this -control. 
   I regularly donate to Angel's Attic, the library and the recycling center.  I love to reuse or re purpose items.  I shop stores or go to auctions where I can buy used items frequently.  My mother taught us not to be wasteful, if she taught us anything.  My parents frequently moved and so they did not accumulate a huge collection.  I believe in thrift and making use of what you have.  I also believe if I own something it should be used and not saved for Sunday or a special occasion.  I love usefulness in an item.  That to me is what beauty is all about.
   So I am going to keep refining my methods and regularly donating and looking for homes for things that we need to get rid of.  Now if I could just convince my husband to do the same.

I've been thinking about stuff lately.  I have been watching American Pickers.  I love old things so I like the show.  Sometimes though stuff seems like it takes over.  You spend so much time taking care of it all and acquiring it.  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  On the show you see these people with huge barns, outbuildings and basements, full of all kinds of stuff.  It's great when they find treasures among all the junk. It's even fun to look through it all.   Some people are really attached to their stuff and have problems parting with anything.  We have a barn and a garage both containing alot of things and we have only lived here 16 years.  I think I can get rid of things but I do understand  emotional attachments.  I have trouble getting rid of any handmade gifts. 

Public TV and radio

         I was just thinking over the weekend how much my weekends are enhanced by public broadcasting.  I love Car Talk and The Prarie Home Companion.  My husband loves Red Green and I like Kentucky Afield.  Weekends are almost defined for me by public broadcasts.  When I listen to NPR, I learn things that are applicable to my work and the world around me.  My kids grew up with Seasame Street, Reading Rainbow, Arthur, Wishbone and Clifford. 
    I know that funding of public radio and TV is on the chopping block right now.  I'm not sure if our tax money should go to support these broadcasts, but I know my life has been enhanced by them.  (Yes I am a financial supporter and I did contact my representatives about my wishes)  It's all a matter of budgetary choices and I'm not privy to the whole picture.
     On the other hand I'm planning on getting rid of my direct TV.  It costs almost 40$ a month for the basic package and I don't believe it's worth it.  Mainly I watch the large networks and I can get those for free.  Other shows can be watched on DVD's.  I try to relegate TV to a small part of my life anyway.  I know that I'm probably in the minority in my choices though.

New Technology

   Yesterday I went into the AT&T store and bought a new iphone.  I did this even though my blackberry works just fine.  That really goes against everything I believe in.  (Waste not, want not, use it till it wears out)  It's the way though now with new technology.  My two year contract is up, so I qualify for a new phone.  They had good deals on the iphone 3 too.  I'll be starting a new job and I need to be able to acess information easily.  My old palm wouldn't update anymore, so I was sucked in.  I put it off too, because I hate the learning curve involved with any new technology.  But I work with a great group of people and I know they will help me to learn what I need to.  And my daughters should be able to help too.  So I got an iphone 4 yesterday (the 3 did not have enough memory for my needed apps)  I'm a bit awed by the thing.  It can do alot of things.  I just hope I can get it to do what I want it to.  I hope my thought processes follow those of the apple engineers.  Sometimes I feel like an old dog trying to learn new tricks.