Day 3: Fishing

Ah, sigh. A day out at sea!!!

The boat picked me up...

...and bye-bye hotel,

Hello fishies!!!! (Queen trigger fish I caught...beautiful!)

A kiss, and a release!

I also managed to catch some fans, with this little guy attached. Apparently the spots are a skin over the snail. Very cool.

The group caught a good amount, and we headed off to the guides home for lunch.

In the mean time, while the fish cooked, I was encouraged to go next door to the hotel, have a drink and a swim, and relax.

In a place like this, who can do anything else?

Lunch was on the deck, and so I put my feet up, and got ready for my next snorkel spot.

Day 2, BELIZE

Day 2...Went for a walk...

...kicked back....

...checked out some of the local wildlife...

....and other residents....

...the local flora...

....tiny pathway...

...tried to not get attacked by the attack trained conch...(lucky for them the season was over. Unlucky for me..I like conch!)

...checked out the local traditions...the "flip-flop sacrifice tree"...

...it probably does not suck to live here...

...admired the general splendor...

....and couldn't stop smiling!!!

Relaxation, thy name is Belize....

Hibiscus outside my room

My room for the week...Sweet #6.

Ah, yes. I'm thoroughly enjoying this!

Belize, June 1, 2012~View from the room

Woo-hoo!!!! I made it out of the country again, and got to spend a little over a week in BELIZE!!! Can you belize it? It's so unbelizeably beautiful!

Flying in...beautiful clouds. As Janitha always says, "It's always sunny above the clouds."

I landed in Belize City, and was suprised to have to take a cab from Belize international airport to Belize municipal airport. It was a great 15 minute detour for the grand total of $25, with a great taxi driver with a fantastic sense of humor. He basically gave me a tour of the city on the way there, even pointing out the hospitals for me. He said he hopes I don't have to see the inside of one!

Ah, puddle jumpers!!!! Woo hoo!!!

I couldn't stop snapping pictures as I rode the 15 minute flight from the mainland to Ambergris Caye, where my hotel awaited me. The water...I simply could not wait to dive in! Not to mention that it was unbelizably hot (92 degrees F)

My sweet room!!! Simple, refreshing, with a great view!

The View from my doorstep...sigh.

The resort: my room was #6, which is on the left side, bottom floor, just 3 steps to the pool!

There was a walk up bar right on the sand. the steps to the far left lead to my room. It faced east, so no sunsets, but I think that was likely my only complaint! Ha! I was served a rum punch on arrival; much appreciated in the heat after the traveling. I quickly also fell in love with the "pink squirrel colada" but without the amaretto. Heaven!!!

The view from my room...not so bad, eh? Oh, but it is good to be me!!! The rest of the adventure to follow....

A walk through Balboa Park in January

The new generation of nurses

 I (and a few other oncology nurses) was asked by a nursing student to come speak to nursing (and pre-nursing) students at this place...

 There was quite a turn out! About 85 nursing students got to ask questions of "real nurses" about things that are really on their mind. Why did you want to be an oncology nurse? How do you balance your time running between patients? What do you say when a patient starts crying? What are some of the wrong things to say? What do you do to keep yourself from going crazy/getting depressed when your patients do bad? What do you say if a patient has different religious beliefs than you do? What if you hate your boss? How do you cope? What was the scariest thing you saw or did?

 The panel consisted of a MSN student (that's me!!!), an oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist (Aran), an oncology research/drug nurse (Sandi), a PhD student (Carlin), and an oncology nursing school teacher (Paula). I must say, I was honored to be on the same panel as these fire-cracker impressive women!

The student who had organized the event was inspired by her mother who is has been battling cancer and now is in remission. Her mother (holding the flowers) spoke about her own memories, the things she could not remember, "chemo-brain", and showed brave pictures of her throughout her journey; pictures of hair loss, infected fingers from poorly done finger sticks, port insertion, side effects of steriods, and the tears as she shaved her head once the chemo kicked and her hair fell out. The room was in awe. This experience was moving. The stories the nurses shared, the insights and questions the students gave us a glimpse in to, and the personal journey battling cancer was powerful.

So HAPPY NURSES WEEK to all you powerful, beautiful, strong nurses!!! (oncology or otherwise!)