Coffee Talk

Let's catch up over coffee! What are you having? Today, I'm sipping on Dunkin! For nurses' week back in May, I was given a gift card to Dunkin' and bought a pound of beans. Only $11! Such a bargain and oh so tasty. Of course, I have the usual scoop of collagen and splash of half and half to top it off. Old habits die hard...

What would you tell me over coffee? 

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that I have a very interesting student this summer. She raises ducks and chickens and brought me some duck eggs to try. I was intrigued and fried one up the next day to put on my avocado toast. The first one I cracked into the pan came out all gloppy. Ugh. I tried another egg with much better luck. Duck eggs are about twice as big as chicken eggs and the yolk is huge. After trying them a few times, I decided that while they weren't bad, I much prefer chicken eggs.

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that early last month the transformer on the pole behind my house blew. My hubs walked back there to investigate and found a dead squirrel on the ground in our backyard. He also noticed a lot of other squirrels running around, frantic. While we know the hubs has had a history with squirrels, this time he wasn't the culprit. I'm not sure the squirrels agreed, but apparently their buddy touched the hot wire and caused the explosion, which caused a power outage for us. 

If we were having coffee... I'd also tell you that in addition to his issues with the squirrels, this year the hubs has been battling with the bunnies. They have been eating everything he plants in the garden--especially all the lettuce he planted early in the spring. The hubs shared with me that he may have run over a rabbit in the driveway. Oddly enough, he came home later that day to find all his cucumber plants eaten. Another time he walked out to the backyard to see a bunny with a mouthful of cilantro. A few days later, I saw that all my marigolds were gone, bitten off right below the flowers, leaving nothing but jagged stems. Cocoa likes to chase them but for her, it's just a game. Not so for the hubs and he's threatening to get a pellet gun...

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that I thought we had a poltergeist in the house! I was in the kitchen doing the dishes when a cabinet door opened up and a glass pie pan shot out, shattering all over the kitchen floor. It was very odd since I was nowhere near the cabinet. Even though I vacuumed thoroughly, the next day I stepped on the tiniest sliver of glass, which I had to dig out of the bottom of my foot. When I shared this story with my student, she brought me sage to burn in my kitchen. I opened all the windows in the house and walked around with this burning weed, chanting "No more bad energy" and feeling silly. 

If we were having coffee... I'd share that my youngest son blew me away with his recent declaration that he's considering applying to medical school. I have mixed feelings about this, but this is his decision, not mine. I've had friends and colleagues tell me that going into medicine is a terrible idea. They tell me I should discourage him. As if I would do that. We all know that healthcare is a mess right now. I certainly have my challenges dealing with insurance companies and working for a large healthcare company. But in spite of all the challenges, I love being a nurse practitioner and I can't picture anything else I would rather do. It's an honor and a privilege to care for other people's children. I would never dissuade him from pursuing a dream and maybe we need young enthusiastic healthcare providers to change things. Actually, what we really need is unions for healthcare workers and universal healthcare, but that is a topic for a different forum. 

It will be a long journey for him. We'll see how it goes.

What would you tell me over coffee? Have you had any weird wildlife stories? Have you ever tried burning sage to rid your home of bad spirits? Have you ever had duck eggs? What would you do if your child decided to pursue a career in a challenging field? And just a note: I'll be out of town at my race this weekend and may not respond as quickly to comments. I'll get there tho!

I'll leave you with this thought:

I'm linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with the ladies of Fit Five Friday:  Darlene, Michelle, Renee, Jenn, and Zenaida.