Up: Carl and Ellie

So I have a thing for Disney movies, especially Pixar collaborations. There, I said it.

Months ago, I saw a glimpse of the type of relationship I have been looking for. Yes, in a Disney movie. Call me sappy or hopeless, but the idealism in me still lives behind the sewn together patches and bits of my heart. She is Ellie, an adventurous spirit and he, Carl, is the one who loves her. In the beginning of the movie, Carl and Ellie meet and it goes into a montage of the couple lovingly growing old together. It's a relatively short part of the movie, but it was the part I remembered best. Getting married, building a home together, their challenges, their affection for one another. The love was in the details.

(sigh...)


On another note:

I will be done with my prerequisites next month and will be able to apply for schools (FINALLY!) The part of me that wants it all tells me that it might be time to look for Mr. Right while looking for the right nursing school/program. So much easier said than done. Factors in choosing a nursing program:

- How fast I can get started: Down with waiting lists!
- How soon I can work as an RN: Includes reputation of school, how long the program is, % of new grads with jobs,
- Cost: Consider my final debt to income ratio, support system, whether I can work at the same time
- Location: I've always wanted to live somewhere beyond SoCal
- Associated vs. Second Bachelor's vs. Masters
- What kind of nursing do I want to end up doing in the end? FNP, ICU, ER, Pediatric, other?

Decisions. Decisions.

Natural inclinations

Usually when people feel intense pain and suffering, they want to extract, eradicate, exterminate, obliterate it immediately... but in the end, what they really want to do is the healthiest thing possible to get over it.

Like when you have an intense pain in your abdomen. You feel like ripping your insides out, but the rational side tells you to get it checked out, even if you learn that it's appendicitis or a tumor or something else. Then, after the doctor says it's ok then you cut the sucker out! (We won't even explore the avenues people take when they can't afford health care.)


So what do you do if your pain is emotional or mental and trying to address the symptoms or causes is IMPOSSIBLE?

- Try to replace it with other feelings
- Distract yourself from the causes/symptoms by watching crappy tv, attending concerts, making Halloween costumes, reading, studying, working, working out, driving 3000 miles, pretending to have a crush on the sales guy at the big sale, hanging out with friends, sleeping, knitting, making phone calls to everyone in your contact list, shopping, eating, blogging, or . . .
- Talking about it with friends, family or a therapist
- Move to another city
- Move to another country
- Think about tackling multiple things on THE LIST.

So, Buddhism teaches that it's about taking the road toward towards the least suffering. We all want to be content.

Which road was that exactly? I think I've taken a wrong turn.

New Developments

Wow. August was crazy.

I flew to San Jose and New York. Attended a wedding. Bought a car. Got a second job.

And that was just the bare bones. The meat of is what really makes it crazy. I wish I had Labor Day weekend to unwind. Alas, when it rains in this life of mine, it pours.

Soooo... time for a party. How about the beach? AND Double time on the destressing effort: TV, jacuzzi, shopping, arts and crafts. To do: haircut, massage, movies, more air conditioning, getting out of the city and into nature.

Let's decompress.

When is enough enough?

From Associated Press reports

Congress has appropriated $610 billion in war-related money since Sept. 11, 2001. That's roughly the same amount that was spent on the war in Vietnam, taking inflation into account.

Iraq alone has cost $450 billion.

---
Vietnam cost $531 billion over 9 years. (1964-1972)

Iraq War started March 2003 = 4 years already.

Is the administration going to let the costs reach WWII levels (in the trillions) before withdrawing from Iraq?

Of course, this commentary does not include other monetary costs like veterans benefits and medical care AND the human costs, military and civilian casualties, the stress of families waiting at home, etc.


I love NPR, but sometimes it stresses me out.