DONE!

Oh I am done, done, done with this semester! What started out as a fairly manageable schedule somehow turned into a crumbling, falling apart semester in the last few weeks of the term. BUT none of that matters now because I can't change any outcomes and for better or worse (oh chemistry final that I probably bombed with flying colors) it is FINISHED. I am so excited to finally take a breath without feeling like I should be studying or making note cards. I have today and tomorrow off from work and I am going to fill the days with making decorations, finishing shopping, sewing, crafting, cleaning and hanging out. I have been so close to the end for a while now, and now I am just going to enjoy the season. Incidentally we aren't even having many of the symptoms of the season, and although Minnesota got a dumping blizzard of a weekend, we are basking in a high of 62 today. I've been a little happy that the cold weather has been holding off because it makes my commute to school that much better, but now that the 16 mile round trip by bike or scoot has been eliminated I am hoping for some snow before I leave for home!

Our first and only "snow" of the season...

In other news, I feel like I am finally settling into a routine at work. I am confident now, and am making friends with my co workers! It's a really hard job, but I do feel like I am making a difference in these people's lives, and that makes me feel good. One of my favorite patients is such a delightful hilarious old man who makes me laugh all the time. He reminds me so much of what I imagine my dad would be like if he were in that situation, commenting on everything, making jokes, getting dressed up in ironic t-shirts (my favorite says "cow pi" with a picture of the pi symbol in cow print) truly enjoying every one's presence and making the best of the situation. But, I could ramble on about work for a while and I won't bore you with that any more than I already have. Outside of work I am very much looking forward to celebrating my birthday (how on earth am I already 26?!), going home for christmas on the 25th with JP in tow and going to NYC in January for a bike & build reunion! I am just feeling very content and blessed at this moment for a lot of reasons. Things seem to be going well for many people that I love, and I am so excited for them too! I am happy to bid good riddance to the fall semester of 2010 and am looking forward to being almost, ALMOST done with undergrad requirements altogether!

brocah comes to denver

I know this was a little bit ago, but I promised pictures and I finally have the ten minutes that it takes to upload them...so here is my brother while he was visiting me!

Some of you might recognize the rusty trusty walsh-mobile behind him, which in true walsh-mobile form blew a tire about fifty miles outside of Denver on a cold windy night. Luckily my dad is a member of every roadside assistance club that will take him, and one of them was able to tow the van to our house. After conversing with our crazy neighbor while the tow truck banged around in the street for a while, we warmed up with beer and bbq fresh off the grill.

Here are Micah and Danny stretching together before heading to the skate park. I think Micah is far less amused by my documentation..

I took like fifty pictures of them at the park. JP took two. Guess who shot this one?! grrr....

There is always time for scooter time.

and also always time for a walsh fam photo op.

my wednesdays start on tuesday

I was trying to think how best to describe how busy things are in my life, and how ridiculously much I am looking forward to being DONE with this semester, when I thought of my horrible Wednesdays and this post was born. Wednesday is my craziest day of the week, and these are the many reasons why:

On Tuesday, I try to sleep until about 2:30 in the afternoon. I get up and study a bit and try to eat a bunch of food before leaving for work at 6:00. (Insert props to my boyfriend ((yes I just said that, and used a double parenthesis in the middle of a sentence that is already in a parenthesis to confirm that for you)) for making me amazing breakfast sandwiches for my breakfast at 5:30pm that help fuel me!) I work at the hospital from 6:30pm until 7:00am. After my shift, I rush home to get in the shower at 7:30 and let all the infectious everything wash down the drain and off of my skin. I make a sandwich, snacks and a big ol' cup of coffee to bring with me to school. I scoot over to school for my biology class from 9:00-1:00, after which I try to grab a few hours of sleep in the library until my night class starts at 5:00. Chemistry goes from 5:00-7:00 and then I am free, free, free to get home and eat everything in sight as fast as possible before crashing into bed. The only redeeming part of the whole day is that afterward I get to sleep from whenever my little head hits the pillow until 3:00 the following day. Every step listed above includes a lot of caffeine consumption and as little conversation as possible, both because I get weirdly emotional between work and being so tired, and because I get seriously dumb when I haven't slept.

So, that's how I spend the middle of my week. The good news is that I only have two more weeks of school left...wait, I just finished one of the weeks tonight with a big chemistry exam, so I suppose the REALLY good news is that I only have ONE WEEK left until this semester is kaput and I can go back to a normal person's schedule of working 40 hours a week between the hours of 6:30pm and 7:00am. And in answer to your unasked questions, yes I am still awake and writing this post at 9:27pm, and no I have no idea where my energy is coming from, at this point, I think I'm just running on fumes..

my awful secret

Okay, here is the truth of it. After this summer I was in amazing shape, the best shape of my life and most probably the best shape I will ever be in. I was tired of exercising, but I kept telling myself that I had a great baseline and all I would have to do is maintain so that my body would still be feeling fit and healthy. I biked the sixteen miles to and from school, and with the best of intentions I researched gyms near my new place and found one that would give me a super sweet unemployed-student discount. I paid for three months up front and happily trotted into the weight room and on to the treadmill. I actually did feel great, my lungs weren't as crappy as they usually are, and my legs were feeling strong. I was psyched that they even had a pool which the Y I used to belong to didn't! Hello only-two-miles-from-my-house-exercise-time!! Now here is the confession part: I have literally not stepped into that building a single time since then. NOT EVEN ONCE. After that run I basically haven't even moved. Oh my. Which is probably why, after dragging myself outside for a run this evening, I practically died from lack of being in shape. I can barely even stretch and touch my toes! Damn you b&b, I blame you for my complacency! I had to tell everyone so that I could shame myself back to the gym, so now you know my awful secret of neverexercisingatallever.

busy busy busy

This whole working thing is quite tiring! Yet another feeling that this summer got me good at functioning with? exhaustion. I sort of feel like my head is a giant balloon lately, and the words that come out of my mouth would do better to just stay in there for all the sense that they do not make. Outside of the tired adjusting period, work is actually going pretty well! It is A LOT of work, a lot to do and a lot of running around with eleven to twelve patients all needing different things, but I seem to be handling it relatively well I think. Now to just find a routine for the days in my life. I keep telling myself that I am young and it's only for a while and that it will all be worth it when I get accepted to a school and yadda yadda, but in truth working nights is quite a huge adjustment. I was recently trying to write a letter to Robby and it would only come out in list form, so in the interest of actually updating the world of how I am adjusting to my new life I am going to make a list for you too:

1. School is going really well! During this holiday break I am busy trying out figure out what classes will be the most beneficial for my applications next fall, and busy trying not to panic when the important ones are starting to look like microbiology, organic chemistry and genetics all at 5 credits a piece. Yikes! At least I will be settled into my job by then so that should help a bit. That and the fact that it will (hopefully) be my last semester of prereqs! That's been a long time in coming and I am more than ready.

2. I recently found out that part of my job includes cleaning and preparing recently deceased bodies if a patient dies during my shift. I was caught a bit off guard when they gave me the sheet of paper at 1:00am and told me that the guy from the morgue would be there within the hour.... talk about learning on the job! It was kind of crazy, absolutely strange but also weirdly commonplace. Or I guess I mean it was kind of just one thing on the long list of tasks that I had to do that night and it ended up just being something that I did in between turning people and answering call lights. At least I'll know for sure whether health care is the field for me!

3. My little brother is coming to visit!! First sibling to come to Colorado, and I am very, very excited! He will only be here for a few days while on his way to California, but I am planning some tasty meals and some photo documentation at the skatepark...that's for you mom!

4. As chaotic as my life may seem, it is going along pretty well. It's nice to be busy at work again, and I do feel like I am learning a lot. If you can't seem to get ahold of me just know that it is probably because I am working while you are sleeping and sleeping while you are working. I try to squeeze in phone calls when I am on my way to work or (if I am not 100% brain dead) when I am driving home from work in the morning. If you are a Minnesotan though, I finally have my dates for Christmas!! I am hoping to zip to Minneapolis for a quick visit, but I am flying in to Duluth on the evening of the 25th and leaving in the evening of the 30th. I hope I can see you all!! In the mean time, here is the nerdiest picture of me from the past few weeks just to make you laugh:

In chem lab we made some small explosives!

the fruit of our labor

Remember when I was in Lawrence, KS this summer in the ridiculous heat building a house? Well... the house was just recently finished! They had the dedication last week and sent us a photo so we could see what we helped to create. Here's the before shot of us busy putting up the outer and inner walls:

And here's the finished product:

What better way to keep this summer in our hearts then by getting a photo like this? We did make a difference!

pumpkins!

I really love Halloween. I just think it is so much fun, and people come up with such creative costumes! It's always been such a great time, and this year was no different. Although this might have been my first "adult" halloween in that I didn't really go out or do anything very special but stayed at home and greeted trick-or-treaters. For some reason kids in our neighborhood were really excited or just craving that sugar rush? I don't know why, but our first kids came to the door around 11:00am with no costumes on. It was weird. After a couple of groups came by with only a mask or a hastily put on crown I was getting pretty disappointed, grumbling about "kids these days..". BUT then a little boy waddled up to the door with a homemade Thomas the Tank Engine costume that had a train around him made out of cardboard and secured with suspenders. It was awesome. He (or his parents I suppose) redeemed my faith. After that we did get a lot of kids that were decked out, so many that we ran out of candy! Another one of my favorite things about the holiday is carving pumpkins. My parents just sent me a package and on the top of it was a picture of my mom, Micah and I carving a pumpkin together and I couldn't have been more than two or three, and I look pretty delighted! My problem is that I always have trouble squeezing in the time for carving, and this year was no different. After organizing a night where people came over for the sole purpose of carving pumpkins, I was somehow left with five untouched pumpkins and no jack-o-lanterns in sight. This was last weekend, so yesterday JP and I took them all outside and went at them full force. We each carved two and had a lot of fun doing it. JP went traditional and I kept with the animal theme of the past few years and carved an owl and an octopus that maybe looks kind of like a spider. Afterwards we roasted the seeds and (with inspiration from my brother) made some tasty enchiladas. Yum. It was a pretty great holiday. On to some pictures:

Hope you had an excellent holiday too!!