three years at St. Joe's

This week I passed my 3 year work anniversary. Sometimes my job feels humdrum, then other days I'm reminded of all the reasons I love what I do. Although there's drawbacks and downsides to every workplace, I'm still happy to be part of the Penn State Health St. Joseph team. Our hospital is small enough that you get to know a lot of the employees. There's a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Diversity is celebrated. I appreciate the fact that every morning, a prayer is said over the loudspeakers. My husband and I are provided with health insurance and savings for retirement.

Working in the pharmacy suits me very well. I'm involved in the medical field, which fascinates me, but don't have to do hands-on patient care. This means I don't have to deal with angry, difficult patients or family members. One of my nurse friends told me tonight, "I think you've found your niche." I have no idea what will happen in the next five years, but feel settled with where I am right now, even though some days I still long to be in the classroom or greenhouse.

This week we celebrated pharmacy week with various activities. I mentioned in another post how we vote on superlatives like "most helpful", "most likely to make you laugh", "pot stirrer", etc. I was given the "cool as a cucumber" award, which was flattering!

Often in the morning when I have to get ready for work I wish I didn't have a job and could have the pleasure of staying at home. But I'm so thankful I'm healthy enough to have a full time job. It's a blessing!

all things pumpkin

I love pumpkin season! There's so many delicious recipes to try and pretty pumpkins to pick and decorate with. I always like to do a pumpkin picking excursion but haven't yet this year. I did cook a pumpkin though, and tried a recipe I thought would be fun to share!

First of all, if you're going to cook a pumpkin, I highly recommend the Long Island Cheese variety. It has excellent flavor and is so much better than canned pumpkin!

Long Island cheese pumpkin 

Cut the pumpkin up in several pieces and remove seeds. Add a small amount of water to the roaster so it doesn't stick, and bake around 300 degrees for an hour or so, until it's soft when pricked with a fork. Let it cool, then remove any remaining seeds or stringy insides. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh and blend until it's nice and smooth. It can be kept in the fridge for quite awhile. This can also be frozen, but will be more watery once thawed, so keep in mind you might need to add more flour to a recipe if you're using frozen pumpkin.

This is my favorite pumpkin recipe so far. It comes from my sister Keela.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins 

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
16 oz. pumpkin
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 cups chocolate chips

In large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture; mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins.



Now for my favorite pumpkin quote.

And my favorite pumpkin poem.

Happy punkin' gathering and baking!

self love

I've been thinking about self care the last while and have more questions than answers. I'd really like to learn more about how to love yourself in a healthy way.

So often the thoughts directed toward ourselves are negative. Maybe it's not this way for everyone, but I think we all experience it to some extent. What would it feel like to be completely content with how we act, our clothes, body, skin, hair? Some ladies always look nice and wear the latest patterns, fabric, sweaters, and shoes. Others don't think as much about their appearance. I think we should all respect ourselves enough to be presented in the best possible way.

What if we treated our bodies like a plant that we carefully nurtured? Instead of hating our shape or size, how about thinking I want to take care of my body. It needs more fresh vegetables and fruits, water, exercise, sunshine, and rest. What if we were friends with ourselves and spoke kindly instead of feeding our mind with thoughts like You are fat and ugly, everyone else is prettier than you. You can't sew like that person and your dresses are old and plain. Your hair is a mess and that's an old-fashioned hairstyle. Your skin is too pale and blemished, you'll never have a nice complexion. Would you say those things to a friend? Or even an enemy?? Those kind of thoughts can become so loud and convincing we actually start believing them.

I'm not sure if I got my thought out correctly. I'd love to hear from anyone if you have wisdom or experiences to share on how to have a healthy view of yourself!

the in-between time

Weather really affects my mood. The end-of-summer feeling is dragging on, and true invigorating fall days are not yet here. It's hard to feel inspired in this in-between time.

Today was a good day though. After working until 11 last night, I slept late and lounged around all morning since it was my day off. It was the perfect gray rainy day for idleness. I continued in this manner all day, and didn't accomplish anything more than a trip to the grocery store, a load of wash, and cooking supper. The rest of my time was spent reading and napping. What luxury!

I'm trying to embrace having a day like today without feeling slightly selfish and guilty, but haven't fully accomplished it. We're so trained to make efficient use of our time and achieve a standard of being a good wife/homemaker/mother/employee and that can be exhausting. I've found it refreshing and uplifting to my mental health to have a day to completely relax without having a to-do list. But there's this little voice in the back of my mind that says, "You're slothful and lazy. You should've sewed/cleaned/done this or that instead of wasting the day away." Is this voice the truth? Or is it alright to practice self-care by occasionally doing exactly what we like? Mothers probably never even have a chance to experience a lazy day and that makes me feel even more convicted, but also privileged!

To chase away the seasonal blues, I sit on my deck and soak up the sunshine on a nice day. Getting outside and walking is another boost, but takes more effort. I faithfully walked for a month or so until I began having knee pain like I've never experienced. It was so painful it affected my energy at work so I've taken an extended break. I really want to try again soon, maybe with a knee brace. I guess I'm aging!

Tomorrow is back to work. The following quote is really quite true for me, so I will continue taking time for relaxation and self-care and try to look at it as a way to recharge and make my work even better!