6 Weeks Off

I haven't NOT worked since the age of 14. Even when I'm on vacation I feel guilty about not working. I have it a little bit ingrained in me that I should be busy All. The. Time. I have a hard time embracing laziness or not panicking if I'm not working.

Therefore I'm in a bit of a panic about not working for the next 6 weeks. I am putting pressure on myself to rush out and take the first available job - I don't care if it's 4X less than what I make right now. HOWEVER, I have been clinging - CLINGING I tell you - to the verse from the Bible that says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14).

My 6 week "time off" is involuntarily and, in my opinion, unfair. I am one of the most experienced and well-liked teachers in our program, so cutting my hours is a bit of a "punishment" from my boss, who dislikes that I spoke up about needing better communication in our program this semester. HOWEVER, it's also a good opportunity for me to diversify(link). I have a ton of interests and skills - I don't want to limit myself to one job being my only source of income and I needed this reminder to branch out, figure things out, and take new steps. I'm still going to REST, but I'm going to do a lot of letting go, too. :)

Here's Project 1 that got finished this week:

Yep, organizing my CD's. They're in two shoeboxes right now because I couldn't find any storage boxes I liked today. Will hit up IKEA when I'm in Edmonton in two weeks.
I still have to alphabetize them and make labels, but this was a HUGE project and well worth doing. DVD's are up next if I can find the DVD slips I need.

Recipe day!

I thought long and hard about the first recipe I wanted to post (not really). :) I wanted it to be healthy, of course, but tasty. And quick. Since I'm not really a fan of cooking, quick is good.

This is the Green Monster Smoothie (picture from skinnytaste.com)

In a blender, add:

4 cups baby spinach (I use 4 loose handfuls)
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup vanilla rice milk
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 frozen banana (chopped into chunks)

Blend. BLEND IT GOOD! :)

I use rice milk because regular milk contains too much phosphorus, whereas rice milk or almond milk contains none. Bananas are high in potassium, so if you're watching those numbers, keep that in mind. The yogurt falls into the daily dairy allowance for dialysis patients. And the spinach is a dark green, so high in antioxidants and just all around good for you.

Honestly, you won't even taste the spinach (unless you don't blend it well enough). You'll taste the peanut butter and the banana. It's really, truly delicious. It's good for your skin and your energy levels! If you have problems with getting enough veggies, this is a great way to top up your servings.

onigiri

Onigiri - or in English, rice ball. I needed something quick and healthy for lunch tomorrow, so I made a couple of these and I still have rice left over to make sushi. YUM. I didn't take an arty photo, just a picture of the finished product. I have tuna & mayo on the inside. Lemme know if you want instructions!

blog schedule

Haha oops...it's Thursday. I meant to get my act in gear on Monday. If I'm going to actually BLOG then I need a schedule and some discipline.

It's been a rough couple of weeks - my hours at work have been cut, so I've been on the job hunt so I can keep paying my rent/bills/etc. I do contract work for a company in Japan, but that's a little slow until the Fall when our big contract kicks in.

I know a lot of people on dialysis don't work/are unable to work; however I am a healthy dialysis person. My only real issue is that my kidneys don't really work. I still pee, so there's SOME action going on down there.  Anyway, maybe TMI for blog post #5.  :)
Anyway. I can work. My blood pressure kicks up a bit of a fuss if I get hot or crowded, and makes me feel like ... well, like crap. What I would like is a stable career, with decent hours, good pay, and BENEFITS. Being Canadian, I have the advantage of health care, although I do also have private coverage.  But no other benefits. Which sucks.

So the job thing is giving me a bit of grief right now no matter how much I try NOT to worry about it. This is when I hate being on my own. It would be nice to have someone to share all this with.

Right, this is turning into a ramble. I was supposed to be talking about a blog schedule.

I want to do a recipe 1 day a week, a photo post on another, and then a written post once or twice.

I'll try for a recipe on Sunday and a photo post tomorrow. The recipe will be kidney friendly, of course. The photo post - we'll see. :)

punch death in the face

"When death captures me, he will feel my fist on his face." (The Book Thief)

This is the attitude I want to have about living - to live so hard that I would punch death in the face if it dared to try and show up. :)

Blog schedule

New blog schedule and possibly new layout coming Monday. I'll be on vacation for a week and I'll have time to plan new posts and topics out. First post will be my story so you can get to know me better. :)

See you Monday!

Second post the first

This probably should have been my first post: to explain what is Life on Di.

Sometimes people joke that they aren't on "Die"alysis, because they are alive. So they are therefore on "Life"alysis.

I know the medical terminology for "di," meaning "through, or across". And I know there are people out there who hate thenterm Lifealysis. I don't have an opinion, but I wanted to make a bit of a play on words. This is a life, and thanks to dialysis I am here to live it.

How WELL do I live it? That is another matter entirely. And that is something I am working on.  Next blog post: food.  That might be a long post!

Insomnia

I'm not sure if insomnia loves me or if I love it. I know I'm a night owl, but this late night stuff alllll the time is messing with how I feel during the day.  Thankfully Heartburn didn't tag along tonight, too!

Ahhh perhaps this is one of the "joys" of Life on D.

Dialysis is of course a nasty beast, but my purpose in writing is to show that yes, it can be managed; no, life does not end; and yes, there will be days of pain, of exhaustion, of frustration. But you CAN get through it, and you can not only survive, but thrive.

That is my journey at the moment:  learning how to thrive. How to accept that this is part of my identity and I'm OK. This part will probably take awhile because I have closed myself off, somewhat, from life around me.  Which is TOTALLY against my extroverted nature.

So I plan to write about the everyday, the mundane, food, dieting, exercise, travel, trials, love, faith and so on and so forth. I may cry. I will try to be funny. And hopefully I will be joined in this writing by a friend and this little blog will turn into a book (and a recipe book, and a speaking tour...) that gives us enough money to retire. ;)

So come along,  questions and comments are welcome!!

And once we're a little further down the road, we'll get savvy and get going on Twitter and Facebook, and hey, maybe even Youtube!! :)