Food For Thought

I've been thinking a lot about the difference between a job and a career lately, mostly because we had to write a short story about what we thought it meant to be a career nurse. I've finally decided, after today, what I think it means.


I am not the biggest fan of gerontology. I much prefer working with kids, the smaller the better. I really loved the days where we had research families come in at the TC because that usually meant I got to play with the kiddos (either those w/ autism or their 'typically developing' [not a fan of that phrase] sibs). Anyway, getting sidetracked. I am not the biggest fan of gerontology. It's not that I mind elderly people. In fact, usually they're pretty darn funny, and you can tell by looking at them that they've seen a lot in their life time. No, the issue is that I can always find some aspect of my grandmother or grandpa in them, and then it makes me sad. Because let's face it, when you're 94 and you're in the hospital, it's not looking good. Too many times these patient's have little to no support. Their kids have kids and they're too busy getting on with their lives to come sit and hold their mom or dad's hand. It bothers me to have patients like this. It bothered me to have clients at the TC that I knew weren't getting the proper care at home.

My question is, how do you overcome that? Do you eventually become so desensitized that you no longer care what happens to your patients/clients after they go home? Or do you allow them to weasel their way into your heart day after day so that you go home feeling sad?

This is what I've decided: the difference between a job and a career is that you don't allow yourself to become desensitized with a career. You let yourself go home and shed a tear (or two or fifty, like I did today) over your patient that you'll likely never see again, because that's okay. It's not in my nature to not care what happens to someone that I've just met. It's not in my nature to provide sub-standard care to someone just because they're not MY grandfather or MY mom. I've been doing this already, but from this day forth, I will always remind myself that despite the fact the person laying in that bed isn't my relative, they do belong to someone, and it's my job to take care of them just like their daughter, or granddaughter, would.

Trimming the Friend Fat

One of my wonderful nursing school friends, Brittany, recently (as in like 5 minutes ago, stalker much?) posted this on facebook and I found it very enlightening. This is an opinion piece about trimming the "friend fat" as the writer so eloquently puts it. Side note, the author is from the Houston area, so AL you may wanna look her up and force her to be friends. She seems like our kind of person.

One of my favorite lines from the article is as follows: "At 25, it's time to trim the friend fat, and while you're sloughing off the excess, cherish those who losing would be like losing a limb." I feel as if this particularly calls to me, because I've ALWAYS felt guilty about losing touch with people. The truth is, I think I'm more of a "few friends" kind of person. I don't mean that in a socially isolated, weird way, I just tend to prefer hanging out with fewer people, and usually the same people on a day to day basis. Now, I don't feel so guilty. I know the people I still miss on a daily basis (here's lookin at you, S&J&como crew!) are those that I cherish. I don't have to feel bad about cringing at the thought of attending a 5 year reunion, and I don't have to feel bad about ducking into the baby food aisle at Target to avoid that random club soccer teammate from 10 years ago.


Or maybe I should. Maybe I'm just mean. The point is, I will always cherish those who losing would be like losing a limb.

what's cookin, good lookin? 2.0

 School has been majorly cutting into my ability to get in the kitchen, but I had a little bit of downtime in the last week so I made some new stuff and some tried and true stuff. Believe it or not, the tried and true stuff was WAY better than the new stuff...

Up first, carbonara courtesy of Rachael Ray. I am never a fan of watching Rachael Ray, but this recipe is to DIE FOR. It is a family favorite, and now I make it for Sam all the time. I'm not going to type the recipe all the way out, but let me just entice you: it has PASTA. and CHEESE. and BACON. and WHITE WINE. how can you go wrong? For my vegetarian friends, I imagine you could just omit the bacon (which we substitute for pancetta--its too expensive) or use a bacon alternative. Another plus?? It's a 30 minute meal!

My stomach is growling as we speak!

Next on the menu are Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. I wasn't a huge fan of these. I found them on allrecipes.com, and they're big spiel was that you wouldn't need to frost them because there is a peanut butter cup inside. wrong wrong wrong. I made the recipe exactly like it said, but I thought the cupcake was really dry. It tastes fine, but I just think it needs a little something extra on top. I would recommend a chocolate icing, because you use peanut butter in the batter as well, so it would be overpowering if you used a peanut butter icing. If you like those cookies that I see around Christmas time with little chocolate kisses on top, you will like these!

Sorry for the blurry picture... thanks iPhone!

Happy Fourth!

I hope everyone had an excellent 4th of July! I know I did! Sam got to come in town early on Friday and was here until early this morning. It was fantastic! My last post was really wordy, so I'm just going to show you what we were up to.

Sam and Bellsy bonded.

We practiced our photo skills with some sunset pictures at the lake by my house.

I'm really not good. I'm planning on taking lessons after school is done.

pretty sailboats on our walk around the lake.

Sam and I dominated Family Game Night.

We took a trip to Crown Center where we ate at Fritz's (me for the 2nd time, Sam for the 1st). I highly recommend it if you have small children (cough, Cort!) but if you don't...maybe skip it until you do.

Shot off some fireworks..STL County doesn't allow fireworks, so Sam was pretty stoked that SVille allows you to shoot them off on the 3rd-5th.

We were really happy for our extended weekend together.

What's the 4th without the police? Our neighbor got in trouble for covering the street lamp with a blanket. Don't worry, no one was harmed, ticketed, or arrested. Just some small town officers flexing their muscles :)

Watched some fireworks

I took a nap on the driveway, because how can this view not make you peaceful?

These were a lot more fun when I was 7.

Shot off some more fireworks and enjoyed the 4th!

 How was YOUR Fourth of July?

what's cookin, good lookin?

Prepare for the onslaught of blog posts! I haven't updated with a decent post in awhile, so I have lots to say!

First, I was going to copy my friend Cortney and post a Menu Monday post, but I forgot with all of the excitement of the 4th of July, so it looks like it's a Tasty Tuesday kinda day.


First on molly's menu is Buffalo Chicken Dip. Now I've had various buffalo chicken dips, as well as various buffalo chicken sandwiches, wraps, etc, but I think this dip that I found on AllRecipes.com is top notch. My various taste testers think so, too! If I had to give it a numerical score, I would say it was an 8/10. It's also SUPER easy to make. I am going to tweak it a bit the next time I make it, to try and make it a little thicker.

 Recipe:
1 8oz package of cream cheese (I use low fat), softened.
1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce
18 oz of shredded chicken (I used canned because I'm lazy and it shreds easier when stirring, you could also omit this for those who want a vegetarian version)

That's it! 5 ingredients!

Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of an 8x8 pan until creamy and smooth. Stir in salad dressing, cheese, and wing sauce. Add chicken and stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until bubbling throughout. Serve with assorted veggies and crackers.

I served it every time I've made it with carrots and Club crackers, which have gone over pretty well.

Ugh. Yum. Now I want some all over again.

Second on the list is some semi-homemade cupcakes that I found a recipe for yesterday. I was inspired by Pinterest, surprise surprise, but found this recipe on TLC's website from a generic google search. I've had mixed reviews on this one ranging from "They're okay, but I don't like coconut." (my little brother) to "Oh my gosh, these are AWESOME!" (my dad) and everything in between. I myself think they're alright. Not the best cupcakes I've ever had, but definitely still really good.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cupcakes


Recipe:
1 pkg white cake mix (plus the ingredients to prepare the cake mix ie: eggs, water, oil)
1 pkg white chocolate Jello pudding mix
3/4 c of chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 c flaked coconut
1 c white chocolate chips
1 container of white frosting

Prepare cake mix according to package directions, beating in pudding mix with cake mix ingredients. Fold in nuts.

Fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. *Side note here...I included the picture of how much I filled up the cupcake liners because people always say "2/3 full" which I think is super subjective, so see below to see how much these filled out.*

Meanwhile, spread coconut evenly on ungreased baking sheet; bake at 350°F 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown. Cool completely.

Place white chocolate chips in small microwavable bowl; microwave 2 minutes on MEDIUM (50%), stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Cool slightly before stirring into frosting.

This is how fluffy the cupcakes got...which I was fine with. I like huge cupcakes...surprise, surprise.

Frost cupcakes; sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Finished product! Cute cupcake stand courtesy of Target.