what smells?

so i was walking into starbucks this afternoon and i smelled Seattle. not just caught a whiff of something that reminded me of home, but full on waterfront, pike place market, that smokey smell from the restaurants alder planking salmon, smell

-i say waterfront but mean waterfront minus the pier funk, those of you familiar with Seattle waterfront will understand what i mean when i say that-

funny how a smell can bring back so many random memories, all the sudden i remembered a time when i was a little kid, probably only 6 or 7 though i'm not positive, and the whole family went down to the waterfront and we went to an imax show on the eruption of mt. st. helens. good times.

i'm kind of at a crossroads, again, in my life, when i'm trying to figure out what i want to do next. i possibly have the opportunity to move into the PICU at my current hospital but the question is do i want to stay here for another year?

my options would be to move to the PICU in august and then stay another year, or i could stay on the floor i currently work on until january then i would be done with my contract with the hospital and could move anywhere i want to. i have thought of moving to new york city or possibly back home to seattle or move out to pittsburgh and work out there but i just don't know what i want.

the thing is, i don't absolutely hate it here anymore. i'm starting to have a life here with friends and routines, but still it's not home and i can feel myself becoming more and more uptight. people here get so angry about EVERYTHING!!!

at starbucks there was a line out the door and customers were absolutely freaking out that they didn't get their coffee the moment they ordered it, there was muttering under their breath, blatant audible comments made to people standing next to them. the girl behind the counter actually forgot to make my drink and i had to remind them (i admit i did get really annoyed with this but i kept it to myself and was very polite) and someone actually turned to their friend and said to them "if your drink gets skipped you need to say something right away instead of waiting until they're in the middle of filling someone else's order" as if to say that i was in the wrong to ask her to make me my tall americano. i swear, the day i become that uptight is the day i move out to the hippie commune on Lopez Island.

in other news today marks the 1 year anniversary of my return to the US. one year ago today i left Ecuador to come back to the states and pursue my nursing career.

i can't believe it's been a year already and at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago that i lived there. i definitely miss it and want to go back eventually. i loved living in a thirld world country!

so today is day number 4 of 5 days off. i have successfully done nothing since i left work last wednesday, i'm thinking tomorrow i will get some stuff done but today is sunday, a day of rest, and i am resting.