Diet and Didactics: Day 1

I’m happy to report that I’ve made it safely to my destination and uneventfully completed day one of my new nurse training program. So far so good! By the way, traveling with a sandwich baggie full of Splenda in your vehicle looks decidedly nefarious.  I never did find my electric skillet and I still think the laundry had something to do with its mysterious disappearance. If you missed out on the saga of the disappearing skillet, you can check that out here.  The good news is it doesn’t matter because, as it turns out, the place where I’m staying has the cutest little kitchenette that ever did kitchen.  I haven’t used it yet, (see confession below), but I’m excited about the possibilities.

Day one of my diet brought some serious fails. There were good intentions. There were also tacos. What do you want from me? Everyone else was jumping off the calorie cliff. All I did was follow them…with maracas and a sombrero. What would you have done? If your answer is stand over the cliff and throw judgment, we can’t be friends.

In my defense I did work out, so day one wasn’t a complete waste. My friend has a T25 video that we did together.  She promised it would burn some fat cells. I don’t know about that, but I’m pretty sure it burned up some taco cells so that’s good I guess. She also told me that I did pretty well because her other friend puked partway through that same workout.  I feel like we may need to work on her standards.  Unfortunately, about halfway through our workout I realized I was squarely in front of the giant hotel room window, shades wide open, shimmy and shaking everything wobbly for all the unfortunate strangers driving by. For the first time in my life, I’m so, so, SO happy to be invisible. Otherwise my awkward T25 dance might’ve ended up on some poor Schmoe’s YouTube channel, heavy on the mouth breathing, short on coordination. Hold on, let me just add that to the list of painful awkwardings I’ll obsess about for the next umpteen years. Great!

As far as the new nurse training, I’m excited about the next few weeks! There’s going to be plenty of work, no doubt about that, but I feel like it’s going to set me up with a great foundation to grow from. I haven’t met any of the patients I’ll end up caring for on this journey I’ve just started, but I already know what I want for them.

Dear future patient,

I want you to feel seen, and safe. I want you to feel heard, and have confidence that I will advocate for you, and give you the best I have in me to give. I hope that what I learn today will make me better for you tomorrow. I don’t just want to go to work day after day to bring home another paycheck.  I want to be the kind of nurse who understands that being good at my job is not an accomplishment, but an absolute necessity. I want to recognize and then do, those small things that are so huge to you.  It’s important to me, because you’re important to me. You matter and your life is invaluable, regardless of how much or how little I know about it.

This sappy snippet was brought to you in part by emotional incontinence.  It happens, it’s real, and it regularly oozes out of me without warning.

If I could only be as committed to my diet as I am to nursing greatness, I’d be several sizes from here by now. I hope your week is starting off on the right foot, and that you are more successful in your days endeavors than I have been with day one of this diet. Tomorrow, we go again!

Much love and many tacos,

The Glittery Nurse