A Day at the Museum

I love the National Gallery of Art. I hadn't been there in awhile, but one visit and I remembered all the reasons why it is awesome. First of all, there are fountains in the middle of the museum. Second, a DaVinci. Amazing. Third, they have portraits that help us remember our history, like when George Washington had background scenery disguised as a black person.

Fourth, we can see the original emo 19th century teenager. Or Liberace's great great grandfather.

Fifth, they have this amazing painting by Wyeth.

Sixth, there is the fantastic tunnel connecting the original museum to the funky east wing. The tunnel is a big highlight, I'm not going to lie.

And seventh, they had a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective which helped me realize the power of polka dots.

Fun fact about the National Gallery Art: it stands on a former railway station which is where President James Garfield was shot in 1881.

Happy Halloween - Or why I got scared on the way to work

Arriving at work on Halloween revealed 7 ambulances in the ambulance bay. Seven! And it wasn't even 11 AM yet! The picture only shows 4 of the 7, but trust me it was scary.

My favorite part of Halloween/fall is the explosion of pumpkin based foods. LOVE IT. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin stew, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin mouse, pumpkin spice cake, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin chai latte, pumpkin ravoli, pumpkin soup, pumpkin zombie decorations (Joy made them, and they are awesome). Fun fact: the world's heavist pumpkin was 1810 pounds which was grown in 2010.

Hurrication

I stole that title from Joy. We are nesting. So far I've cleaned the dishes, the living room, the floor, the bathroom, and now have started on my room. Everything must be done before Frankenstorm knocks the power out. In case you haven't met Frankenstorm, let me introduce you.

Just kidding, she's scarier that Gene Wilder. Here she is:

Now it's just wait and see. The hospital is going to be crazy when this whole think blows over because no one is going to venture out until tomorrow mid-morning - right in time for my shift to start.

Nursing Fun Facts

While precepting a new nursing school graduate today I was reminded of the most worthless part of nursing school: The Nursing Diagnosis. Unlike a medical diagnosis which is actually based on objective reality, the nursing diagnosis is some fluffy nonsense created by some organization that really believes they are actually doing something useful. Unlike a medical diagnosis of "diabetes" or "congestive heart failure", nursing diagnoses include such gems as "Disuse Syndrome, Risk for"; "Diversional Activity, Deficient"; "Energy Field, Disturbed"; "Environmental Interpretation Syndrome, Impaired". Yes, these are actual things never used by real life nurses. Below I found a picture of what a disturbed energy field may look like:

As a matter of principle, I refuse to engage in this aspect of nursing. I vow to never, ever, ever waste my time looking for approved nursing diagnoses to include in my patient's chart. Something else I vow never to do: grade poop.

Someone spent a lot of time on this chart. And probably never ate sausage again.

Burger Master

Today was a quest to find the best burger in the area. Well, at least between 3 different burger joints because one can only eat so much ground beef in a day. I think the 3 of us (Abby, Joy, and myself) agreed that the perfect burger had a toasted bun that could contain the juice of a burger done to a medium perfection, topped simply with lettuce, grilled onions, tomato, and pickles. So here they are: 1st Ray's Hell Burger. Great toasted bun, delicious beef - no ketchup needed, encrusted in peppercorns, and done to perfection. It was so good, we can only show the empty plate and a picture of satisfied customers. The only disappointment was a pumpkin cheesecake shake which turned out to be a banana shake.

2nd The Shake Shack. The most disappointing burger in that it tasted better after doused in ketchup and mustard and someone forgot the toaster. But as a bonus, they have a Chicago Dog that's pretty amazing.

3rd the local BGR Joint in Old Town. They came in 2nd place overall with a very delicious basic burger, the best tomatoes by far, and an incredibly juicy ground beef. And of course the best coke machine in the world that has a crazy number of options including raspberry diet coke (not to bad), strawberry sprite zero (amazing), and lemon coke zero (so much better than it used to be).

Why Ann Perkins is TV's Best Nurse

I'm obsessed with Parks and Rec starring the world's greatest nurse, Ann Perkins. Why is she so great? 1) She took a couple of meetings for the Parks and Rec Department and turned it into a health clinic for crazy people who have "weird things" and need to be assured they are normal. 2) She diagnosed the mumps from an inappropriate penis photo forwarded by a creepy city employee. 3) She became the resident city hall expert on penises (Peni? What's plural for penis?). 4) She never lost it with the world's most annoying patient: April Ludgate. 5) She's Ann Perkins! (say it with the world's chirpiest, most optimistic voice like Chris Traeger and you will understand why she is Literally the embodiment of Awesome Sauce. Way to represent Ann Perkins.

Speaking of awesome sauce, I got hit on tonight at work by a patient's friend. Apparently, I am irresistible after 12.5 hours on shift. Well, at least he wasn't drunk. Ann Perkins would have probably froze him with a single look.

Things I Notice While Running

The leaves are changing and the fall breeze is a welcome addition to my run. I'm definitely faster when the ambient temperature is 70 degrees. Just 2 more weeks until the Marine Corp 10K. Running playlist today was Adele. I'm not a pop kind of girl, but I love Adele's voice.

Fun Facts about running: 1) There's a National Running Day on June 6. Who knew? It's now going on my calendar. 2) When we run, the human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet! 30 feet! That's like a touchdown from the 10 yard line. And 3) Running burns about 50% more calories than walking.