Weekly News: Tofu, Life and Passing

Asian Chicken Salad from Pei Wei...
minus chicken, plus tofu

My wonderful extern, 'K', and HUS, 'V', were so awesome and went out to get us food for dinner at work last night. The consensus was Pei Wei, a step down from the pricey PF Chang's, but equally yummy. One of the ICU nurses, who happens to be a vegetarian recommended the Asian Chicken Salad but instead of chicken, tofu. Keeping with my low carb, low lipid diet, I decided that this was a good option and decided to try something new. So this week's new experience helped me to stay on course. They forgot the ginger dressing (which everyone who had tried it before claimed it to be "fabulous") so I tried it plain... the mint leaves were somewhat overpowering so I resorted to Newman's Own Italian (my favorite and loaded with bad stuff... so just a drizzle). It was pretty good and I would order it again. I expected tofu to be mushy white ick but it was pretty darn firm and tasty. I was actually surprised that it LOOKED a lot like chicken strips.
On another note... work news. A patient that I had been taking care of for the last four nights passed away. The multitude of family that was there at the beginning of the shift had just left, except for two. I was there with his son and his wife when he took his last breath. It is an indescribable experience to witness such a thing. My heart went out to his family as he came in a few nights ago, walking, talking, laughing, waiting for treatment when things took a turn for the worse. Such a nice person in general. I am so glad that my patient had family there with him when he finally left this earth. Mostly though, I am glad his son decided to stay. He was the one I was most concerned about because he did not seem ready to lose his dad. He will now have this moment and memory that he was there for his dad in his final hour. He passed quietly and peacefully.
When I tell people that I work on an oncology unit I get asked quite a bit if losing patients bothers me or if it gets too depressing. Yes, I have to admit that it is overwhelming at times but for the most part I am grateful that I am able to make such a difficult time for people a little more bearable a burden. When he finally passed, I was sad for the family. I took a long look at my patient and felt more sad knowing what a decent person he was and what a loss it is that he is gone.
It's funny though, that while I was alone with him, cleaning him, packing up his things, that I only began to tear up when I saw, among his clothing, some nice pants, shoes and a pair of suspenders. I'm not sure why it affected me like it did but I can see him not as a patient but as a person I could have said "hello" to at the grocery store or walking down the street.

I am so glad that I do what I do.

Weekly News: Vanilla Soy

For this week's new experience I am making a change.

Several people I know have told me that their triglyceride and cholesterol levels are high. A doctor of one of these people actually detected a plaque in her carotid artery. Just last week I had my levels drawn and am still waiting for the results. I really want both of us to work on bringing our levels to normal (or below), as I have a significant family history of heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. I have taken care of people who have had strokes and all I can say is that I DO NOT want to end up living my life the way some are destined to after that sort of event. My friend has been doing well with the changes she's made and I hope she keeps it up. She is very important to me and words can not describe what I would feel if something happened to her.
In the spirit of getting healthier (and thinner), I decided to make some changes in the way I exercise and eat. A small change, but hopefully a beneficial one, I have taken the advice of a fellow healthy person. He suggested replacing milk (the HORROR!) with Soy milk. Today, I did.
It's yellow. It's sweet. It tastes nothing like milk.
I love milk.
I'm going to miss it... after this gallon is gone : ).


*6/21/07 2148 Addendum: Great. I just now checked voice mail from the last two days. Dr's office called to report my labs are back. They want me to call them and schedule a follow up appointment regarding my lipids. I should have known... but I thought I was doing so well!

Weekly News: BINGO!

The last time I played Bingo I was in either elementary school or Junior High. Gramma Mary went every weekend to play with her senior friends from Saint Anthony's and would bring Christine and I along, on occasion. The two of us would spend the night at her house on Friday night, eat ice cream that she bought with change she made from recycling aluminum cans and sit on her couches watching 'Murder She Wrote' and 'Columbo' before bed. We shared the full sized bed in her second bedroom and stayed up giggling and talking. Sometimes she would come in and tell us to be quiet and go to sleep.
We played with Gramma's Bingo group during our summer vacation in a small two-room building on the side of the church which was hot and had a swamp cooler that seemed to work only half the time. The games were played for pennies and Christine and I used a collapsable plastic cup to hold our pennies in. Most of the regulars would have a jar of pennies and about 20 cards in front of them. C and I would have one or two, which is probably as much as we could handle. I also remember that they used to have clever ways of calling out certain numbers. Such as "B - ELIVIN... one, one", or "B - four... be-fore I grew up and I was a child...", and then everyone would laugh.
Last night, my friend 'K' and I went to the Ft. McDowell Casino to play Bingo. It was my first time going to play and I have to say that it was a totally different experience than Gramma's Bingo. There are hundreds of people who play, everything is electronic and a winning bingo can look like a "Crazy Tree", "Picture Frame" or giraffe. Although winning $1.26 at Gramma's Bingo was very rewarding, I could handle winning $100,000 for a $3 game. Yes... I could stand that.

Weekly News: Cherry Garcia

Cherry Garcia, originally uploaded by scoobers1.

I was out grocery shopping and decided to pick up some ice cream. Being a chocoholic, I will usually opt for anything chocolate over a fruity flavor. This time, though, I decided to try something new, so I tossed Cherry Garcia into the basket. I know, I really went out on a limb for this new experience.
Anyway, to my surprise... IT HAS FUDGE IN IT! Bonus! I had no idea.
What a nice way to end the day.

Weekly News: First Oil Painting

First Oil, originally uploaded by scoobers1.

For my weekly new experience I've decided to share my first attempt at oil painting. Please, don't judge too harshly. I've been doing watercolor for a while and a lot of people say that it is more difficult than oil. Now that I've done both I can say, I disagree. I like that if you don't like the way things are turning out you can pile on the paint to cover up the blunders but this technique only backfired for me. I used two tubes of white paint trying to make it right. Plus, the color I chose turned out to look like something you might find in the diaper of a three month old. Hence, the black and white photo!
It was meant to be a gift... but I think I'll hang on to this one and work out something better.

Weekly News: SPF

For my weekly new experience, I am participating in my first "Stuff Portrait Friday". Now, every week there will be a new experience and SPF!
Every week Kristine will assign a new project for Friday.
Will you play?


YOUR SPF ASSIGNMENT: May 11th, 2007
– Put something you own in your hand and take a picture of it. A handful of something.




This a handful of my music. I am an iTunes addict and I love my shuffle. It pretty much goes with me everywhere (except work). Yes, it says scoobers on it : ) Rock on!

7 Things

I've been tagged by Jenni

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well. At the end of your post, choose 7 people to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog! OK, here goes...

1. This is my first official blog on my own official site!
2. I totally have spring fever and a trip to Rocky Point is a must.
3. I really need to exercise more (Amen, Jenni!)
4. My name is Katherine and I am addicted to iTunes and my Mac.
5. Saying “God Bless You” when someone sneezes and getting one in return when I sneeze is pretty important to me.
6. Kim and i are going to Australia in less than a year!
7. Dragonflies. I have always liked dragonflies.


Thanks for getting me started Jenni!

The people I tag are you who might do this and those I would love to hear from: Christine, Mommy & Daddy, Debbie, Jana, Jessica, Shelly, Laura & Bekah, and DeAnne (That’s more than 7... I know)

Weekly News: My First Blog

One of the goals I have set for myself is to try something new at least once a week, if not more often. It may be simple, like trying a different food or taking up a new hobby, like skydiving (but I don’t think so). Either way, life is for experience. So, as experiences go, they should be shared with family and friends who can share the enjoyment or, with unpleasant experiences, heed the warnings and not follow suit.
Anybody have any new experiences you would like to share? Please, leave a comment or add a new experience to your blog. I would love to hear from you!