That would be the night shift.
Oy. Why do they all go crazy when the sun sets? Why?!?
That’s my attempt at taking a picture of the full moon. Mighty fine camera skills right thurr.
As ridiculous as last night was (and trust me, it was plenty ridiculous), I made it home in one piece to curl up on the couch with a new Gossip Girl episode (finally!).
And whatdoyouknow, this post seems to be making semi-sense, too (thus far…). Compared to Amy Winehouse, I have my sh!t together.
Yesterday started the same as any other day. I tried to sleep in and failed.
So I had a big bowl of oatmeal with apples and peanut butter. In actuality, peanut butter was the dominant ingredient. Oats were the afterthought.
All I wanted was peanut butter. Upon finishing this bowl, I went straight to the jar. Spoon to jar is never a good decision. But, alas, we all know how that story ended.
Half a jar later…
[zzzzzz]
I didn’t really snooze, even though that’s what I wanted to do. I suck at daytime sleeping. This is why I’m awake right now instead of getting some very necessary shut eye. I can’t nap. I can’t fall asleep when it’s light outside. Whatever. Back to yesterday’s food.
I didn’t eat until pretty late in the afternoon since breakfast was so large and in charge.
Toast + hummus + vegan cheeze = gooooooey
For the first time in a long time I didn’t buy Daiya. This is Galaxy Nutritional Foods’ vegan cheese. It doesn’t melt nearly as well, but I liked the flavor, so no complaints on my end. It’s cheaper than Daiya, so there’s the motivation for buying it. Ya know?
This was my snackage on the way to the hospital. Trail mixity mix of Three Sisters’ Honey Puffs cereal, salty cashews, raisins, granola, yadda yadda.
Here are the goodies I brought for dinner on the late night.
I killed the apples by 8 pm.
Spinach, steamed sweet potato, roasted butternut squash, and leftover spicy sautéed carrots.
Carrots and celery with roasted red pepper hummus and a homemade chewy granola bar.
And two hundred pounds of tea.
Work flew by given the busy nature of the evening. Here are two things you don’t want to see in a patient’s chart: altered mental status, keep IV atropine at the bedside. Oh brother.
We had to call the cops hospital police on a patient. It took 10 of them and Michael Jackson’s medical regimen to get the patient settled down.
You just can’t make this stuff up. It’s actually pretty amusing (when it’s not your patient).
So now I’m going to try and bury myself in covers. Any tips for daytime napping?
Have you tried blackout curtains? They look like normal curtains but they have a special light blocking fabric on the backside.
Try covering your eyes with a towel or blanket, or eye covers to block out anylight. I wish I could take naps, but when I did just having some light music in the background, being curled up on the couch seemed to work 🙂 Hope you can get some rest.
ok my question is.. why havent i tried hummus and cheese together?… gottta do that
I love the combo of hummus and vegan cheese. Melty goodness! Cheaper than Daiya?–I’ll have to try to find Galaxy Nutritional Foods vegan cheese!
Hey Elise!
I know you’re a ucla alumni and i would love to meet up with you if it’s possible. i currently attend UCLA and would love to meet with more fellow bruin-bloggers!
I think we have a lot of similarities (food-wise~) 🙂
I love your blog and oh my goodness, hummus and veg cheese??? Why have I never thought of that! The oatmeal looks to die for too! I am adding you to my blogroll. Please come visit my blog when you can.
I can’t sleep during the day either. Though I do think eliminating light is the key. Make it as much like night as possible. Put on what you’d normally wear to bed, mute all distractions, etc.
what a job!
i have similar stories from mine. I also work late/nights and tips for daytime napping? NONE! The older i get, the harder it is to sleep in broad daylight with the sun beaming in…oh wait, i have a small child. I wouldnt be sleeping anyway 🙂
Eye mask + sound machine. Only way it works for me.
I agree with the eye mask and sound machine….and sometimes if I’m on three in a row sometimes some Tylenol PM makes it into that rotation but I try hard not to give in:) I worked last night too and I was laughing when I read this….except mine involved a head injury and Ativan…..oy!! Good luck with the sleep!
“I suck at daytime sleeping. This is why I’m awake right now instead of getting some very necessary shut eye. I can’t nap. I can’t fall asleep when it’s light outside.”
I am the EXACT same way. Which is odd since my mom is a championship napper…she can sleep at the drop of a hat, lol! I wish…
Courtney
holy balls i want those cake batter oats you made in the last post. i neeeed coconut flour now like no other
i hit the pb jar yesterday like a maniac.
I use those cheesy eye masks, totaaallly works 😀
sidenote: have u tried Kashi GoLean Crisp….OMGAH it is my new faveeeee!!! u must try! Oh and thanks for making me super excited about my prospective nursing career as usual ;D
My daughter starts night shifts in L&D at Centinela in a week and a half. And she’s planning a June wedding! And they want to buy a house. So if you find out any secrets to sleeping during the day, let me know and I’ll pass it on to her! I hope you figure it out soon.
your pix of the moon turned out better than mine – mine just look like street lights!
I suuuuck at daytime napping. The only time I sleep really well during the day is if I go kill myself with a workout….guessing you probably don’t want to run double digit miles after a long shift though.
In other news, I’m now craving pools of PB…
Daytime naps are necessary in my life! I shut the blinds, turn on my fan, and put on my eye mask and im good to go! The only thing I dont like is that I always wake up from naps starving, even if it was only a half an hour nap and I ate right before it!
You need a pitch-black room! I’ve never been much of a napper at all, but since living the Barcelona lifestyle I can’t get enough of my 5 pm siestas!! hahah
And oh yum. Apple, peanut-buttery oats! May or may not be my favorite favorite breakfast as of late. The Trader joe’s crunchy, salted peanut butter is SOOO GOOD.
me too!?! there’s something weird about napping that makes me shaking and huuuuungry when i wake up. regardless of how recently ive eaten. glad im not the only weirdo.
good luck to her! so far the face mask has been a big help…but i still havent gotten more than 3.5 hours.
ok must try that cereal now. if it has clusters im all over it. clusters are what i live for in granola/cereal. the night mask is totally working btw!
its a CRAZY DELISH combo. one of my faves!!
hi! id love to met up. email me 🙂
DOOOOO it. so so tasty 🙂
oh dont worry – i had about 500 others of those too, haha
I have hit a massive mailbox pole (my dad put it up because cars kept hitting the mailbox on purpose, so he wanted to teach them a lesson. Instead, I was taught a lesson.) when I was 16. More recently, soon after I moved to Australia I hit a pole when parking. It’s really hard to judge the width of your car when the steering wheel is on a different side than you are used to!
I thought of you today whilst making a smoothie. I impulsively decided to throw a few pieces of crystallised ginger into it at the last minute. I recall you having a thing for crystallised ginger. You should try it!
was it good?!? hmmm…very intriguing!!
Ah, patient sedation. No doubt something to look forward to.
Or dread.
haha…a little bit of both 🙂
Omg, that hummus and cheese sandwich looks soooo good… I forgot to get Daiya cheese at the store yesterday and now I’m kicking myself!!
It was delicious! I only put 3 chunks in, so it just gave it the slightest taste of ginger. I’d probably put more in next time, but that’s because I adore strong ginger flavour.
First, my recipe for daytime sleep: blackout curtain PLUS blackout shade (the kind with a sticky strip that adheres to the top of the window frame) plus boxfan (to block out neighbors’ questionable music tastes) plus a 30 minute pre-sleep period of sitting in the dark room watching calm tv or reading, wearing jammies, and sipping hot decaf tea. In essence, kick the sunlight out of your room and replicate a nighttime ritual.
Also, I may be able to match your hospital security story: I once called security to help restrain an out-of-control patient. They were unable to restrain him. In fact, they were unable to prevent him running down the stairwell and completely disappearing. I was trying to quell my own panic when I received a phone call from the ER saying they had my patient in an isolation room, awaiting questioning by the police, because he had run out onto the street in front of the hospital and caused a minor accident…but that they would be happy to return him after his interrogation. The night shift nursing supervisor (whom I had called early in the incident) and I just stared at each other, stunned, while the octogenarian sitter that I had been provided to watch my patient stood by with a determined expression and reassured us that she’d done all she could.
Some nights are just like that…but then, I did chose to work on a neuro floor.
HAHAHHAHAHAA. BEST. STORY. EVER. [thank you]