Nurse Joc, Not Jackie

Are you enjoying the weather? The sun has been out all day! My goodness, it's just gorgeous out there. I decided to go out with my sister and her son, our friend Shanon and her daughter, my dog, my daughter and I. We went to the park and checked out the new boardwalk that the town is in the middle of constructing along the beach. It looks like it will make an excellent run spot ;D

On a random note, I've been reading through a lot of antidepressant forums and reading up on people trying to wean themselves off of them. I see so much wrong information and well-meaning, but bad advice being handed out... I'm tempted to write a post relating to depression and antidepressants. Mostly, I want to address the "I feel better now and would like to stop taking the medication." Mentality. Unfortunately, the reason why you feel so good is because of the medication. When depression is made enough that it warrants medication, you are going on the medication for life, not until you feel better... Generally, anyway.

The withdrawals are terrible. You have to be prepared and have your doctor on your side as well as your family and support system.

Aww darn, see? I'm turning this into a post about antidepressants already!  For those of you that are curious, I am on 37.5 mg of Effexor OD for depression. I feel completely normal and completely fine/content/happy while on it despite the occasional headache. My family has a history of depression and I battled with it for 13 years before turning to medication. I only wish I turned to medication sooner. It doesn't change who you are, doesn't make you a bad person, but it does help you to start thinking like a normal, healthy person :D

Moms of daughters in the Parksville area, please be careful and warn your daughters. Get them a safety whistle or a cell phone to carry on themselves if they must walk alone. If possible, encourage them to walk with friends.

Yesterday, my MIL's friend's daughter was followed by a man described to be in his 40's or 50's, dark brown/black hair down to his jawline, dark spot on the front of his neck (like a burn), tattoo of a barbell or dumbbell on his upper right arm, greasy/dirty looking hands, a smoker, very freckled face... Driving around in an older black, light-duty truck with a black tarp in the back covering something "bumpy", no lisence place on the front, rusting around the wheel wells, large scrape down the front of the truck, passenger-side headlight is cracked, and an airfreshener or a photo of a woman in a short red dress hanging from his rear-view mirror.

The police are on the lookout for this guy, so please give them a call if you know anything. He was offering a ride to the daughter of MIL's friend, she declined and walked quickly away, so he followed her inside of his truck, even following her down the one-way street in the main area of downtown parksville. She started running once he actually followed her down the one-way street and managed to get to her mom's work safely, though very shaken up. Police say this is the second report they've had of this guy in two days. Please be careful and pass on the info!

I saw this at Team Wiking's blog and just had to re-blog it to share with you all! It's a cute chore chart that can be downloaded at this website. I like the idea of having your kids help out in any way possible and giving them a sense of reward by seeing their accomplishments in writing (i.e. instead of candy or other tangible rewards... Though 5 ticks = one treat or surprise sounds pretty awesome, too!)

On my old blogs, I always did a yearly Geeky Christmas special blog post filled with geeky goodies that I would love personally as a geek. I share it to give everyone some ideas on what to buy for the geeks in their lives. Posting this well more than a month in advance so if you are so inclined to make online purchases, it will get to you on time. If you are a geek, make yourself a wishlist at my favorite geek store!

The List

Power Plant Herb Garden :: Make your own mini-herb garden with this fool-proof garden. Basil, cilantro, parsley, nom, nom, nom! It is a Desktop hydroponic herb garden that comes with dirt pellets and nutrition for your soon-to-be plants.

Space Invaders Cutting Board :: Oh em gee... Who doesn't remember Space invaders! Heck, I still play it on seedy looking flash-based gaming websites! This cutting board gives a true pixilated feeling with an invader on it. Hand made, if you can believe it.

Why There's Antifreeze in Your Toothpaste :: A great bathroom reader for anyone in your family who's hard to shop for. A book that explains common chemicals found in regular household items.

8-Bit Oven Mit :: Not only does the title rhyme... ha. This 8-bit hand picture is on an oven mitt. I would love to have one of these myself, not going to lie! I might just find a knitting pattern... Make some gloves or something haha

Cat Play Houses :: If I had a cat, I would definitely, definitely have one of these. They are cute and awesome! There is a firetruck, an airplane, and a tank.

I could make this list go on forever, really... Even since my first order from ThinkGeek about 7 years ago, I have been a loyal customer. I love all the things they carry and just wish that they had a Canadian shipping location so that customes wouldn't charge me so darn much... Keep checking back, I'll likely make more Christmas lists for runners/athletes, nurses, etc.

I am about to do my very last night shift. I am so burned out already, but it'll be worth it in the end. This is an extra shift I have picked up because of the one I missed on Thursday for my grandfather's wake. I don't mind nightshifts, really. They are pretty boring, but I at least get to see my daughter a bunch when I'm at home. On the evening shifts, she's always asleep when I'm home and it makes me miss her like crazy!

Tuesday is my only day off, then I am off to work 6 evening shifts in a row. If this doens't kill me, what will?

Edit: I got the dates wrong and originally had this posted on the first, haha... Deleted that entry and replaced it with this one for the fifteenth:

I'm supposed to blog about climate change for today, since it is the Blog Action Day's topic. I'll be honest and say I don't spend a lot of time worrying myself about climat change. I do realize the incredible risk that it has on Earth, but all I can really do is try to do my part to prevent further damage. Carpooling whenever possible, keeping the trees on my property nice and healthy... Planting more whenever I can. Turning off lights as I leave the room. Common sense things that just aren't common enough.

Do you conserve energy whenever possible? How about water? Do you take long showers? More than one shower per day? Do you take baths nearly filled to the top? Do you overstuff your fridge and frezer? Idle your car for longer than a minute when you run inside? All of these things contribute to excess gases that just aren't needed. These gases are theorized to contribute to the global climate change.

Saturday was our graduation ceremony. It was good! Short and sweet. It was a little harsh to see that the other intake groups had lost at least half of their group. My sister likes to blame it on our intake's teachers being easier. I prefer to think it's because of how close knit our class became. We all know eachother pretty well... We know the hardships we've all endured during this demanding 12 month program. We have all shared a good cry together during stressful exams, failed exams, relieving tears of barely passed exams, assessments, and so forth. It's been quite the ride.

My intake still has one more month left and our lisencing exam isn't until January. Boo! Oh well. Congratulations, classmates!

Sunday was the Run for the cure. I hadn't really practiced for it. I hadn't trained at all, acually. Prior to the run, my longest run ever was 1 km (without a walking break). Pretty weak! I went into yesterday's run knowing I was running for my grandma and her best friend... My grandma passed away what will be 2 years ago on the 14th, and her best friend was diagnosed with breastcancer shortly after that. My grandma did not die of breast cancer. No. She was a survivor. She was a survivor because of cancer research supported by wonderful people who volunteer for fundraisers, the people whom organize the events, the people who volunteer to set up the tents, the people who volunteer to cheer on the runners during these events, and lastly, the people who gather donations.

I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you to all volunteers and runners who participated in the Run for the Cure yesterday. Thank you for giving me my grandma back. Even though she's no longer here, it is because of your hard efforts that I had her with me for more than a decade longer.

I ran the full 5 km. Not once did I stop and not once did I walk. I felt like I was going to throw up for the last kilometer. I felt like my legs were going to give out near the home stretch. I couldn't even feel the muscles in my legs working, I was just trusting that they were doing what I told them to do. I told myself I would run the 5 km for my grandma, and I did.

I choked back my sobs as I passed people on the trail during the last kilometer, because I could not believe it. I was doing it. Shortly after crossing the finish line, I cried. Cried for my grandma, cried from the overwhelming runner's high, cried out of being proud of myself, and I cried for everyone else that shared their stories of how breast cancer affected their lives.

I can barely walk today :)