Give Life

One of the first things I saw this morning was this - 

First I think it's still really cool that my mom said this because she is the one who had to stick me which in my book makes her pretty tough. 

Second I am glad that she encourages me and acknowledges this stuff for me because I often do not. 

This also plays into some things I want to talk about. 

I was at mom and dad's this weekend and some of the things we talked about made me think I need to post about that. One of those things is organ donation. We often find that there is a misconception about how you actually "sign up" for organ donation. Yes you mark the box on the back of your license or say "yes" at the DMV BUT that is not all you do. You also have to talk to your family about your wishes. When you die the doctors and nurses will be looking to your family to make the decision about what to do with you. They legally cannot do anything without your famly's consent. This is one of the reason I am thankful not just for Alex but for his whole family. They carried out his wishes once he past and were able to help him save lives. They saved my life as much as he did by saying "yes" to donating their loved ones organs. If you want that to be the case with you when you past tell the people around you. Let them know how much organ donation means to you. Tell them about the lives it saves. Tell them about the beauty that can come from ashes. Tell them about me and people like me who are alive and able to do things like watch their nephews grow up all because of organ donation. And until you past donate in other ways - like your blood - so that your family will see how much giving others life means to you. 

The other thing mom and I talked about this weekend that goes along with this picture is work. I have said it before but I do love my job. I can't believe that I get paid to be a librarian. I get paid to look through archives and find out cool stuff about the school I work at. I get paid to be a nerd. That still often blows my mind. But I am still new at my job and some days I find myself staring at things I have done before feeling overwhelmed thinking "what am I doing again?" And I still get things dropped on my desk that I feel like I have no idea how to do. And after today's post from my mom I find myself overwhelmed by all that has happened in the last few years. How did I go so quickly from dialysis, to transplant, to job? And no wonder I find myself inexplicably feeling like I am in over my head. No wonder I find myself some days getting easily annoyed by the people around me. 

When I was venting to mom today about some work things she joked that on Sunday's I don't get homesick I just get overwhelmed about the thought of going back into work. I cannot deny that that is in part true. Because Sunday afternoon rolls easily into Sunday night and I think I am not ready for Monday. I am not ready to go back into work. I need a longer weekend to catch my breath. I need more time to figure out what is going on and wrap my head around it. But no matter how much I feel I want or need a longer weekend time stops for no one. 

I am sure someday I will settle into my job. And I know people say it takes on average about two years to feel like you are settled into your job. But I gotta tell you on days when all the sudden I feel like I am drowning the two years to settle in is not a comforting thought. So as always if you think about it - send up a prayer for me on that. 

Hope you all are enjoying the weather becoming warmer - or if you are in the mid-west suddenly becoming hot over night. 

May you be able to look back and see how far you have come. 

And don't forget to talk to your family about being an organ donor. As a blood donation give away shirt said a couple years ago - Be a Superhero! Save a life!