"The Day Before the Night Before Christmas"

"and I'm busy, busy, busy being good"... I think the song goes something like this.

Although I'm singing a song more like "The day before the night before another day of work..."

Being a nurse, I tend to see holidays different than most of the world. Or at least most of the working world.


Holidays don't necessarily mean time off, or time with family, or parties (unless you count the PICU potlucks). So while everyone else in the world is getting giddy over Christmas, many nurses all over the world just see it as another day to wake up early, throw on those scrubs and head out to saves people's lives!


This year, this feeling is exaggerated even more for me because I didn't do much of the traditional decorating that I normally do. Being gone 2 weeks in December and then getting into the full (psycho crazy!) swing of things with school Jan. 3rd, I didn't see the point in taking several hours to get everything up....and then several hours to get it down and back in the attic.


Plus, the husband and I decided that our gift to each other was the cruise/vaca in PR. So no gift giving, no decorations, and warm sunny weather in Dec....Christmas WHAT???


The plus side to all of this:

1.) Hello AMAZING vacation!!!! Best gift EVER!!

2.) Getting (kinda) into the holiday spirit in PR....it's just so unnatural to sing Frosty the Snowman when I'm sweating outside, but I did do it : )

3.) Not having to fight all the mall crowds to get gifts....or spend endless hours online trying to find the perfect one!

4.) Saved hours of decorating/undecorating (I can whip up my prelit 4ft tree in NO time!)

5.) PICU Christmas potluck!!! (I'm not joking...this is defintely a plus...people hook it up with the food they bring!)


So come Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will put on my Santa & Reindeer scrub top, make my gooey delicious crock-pot mac-n-cheese for the potluck, and celebrate this holiday PICU nursing style!

While I will miss my family, it is rewarding to know that I will be taking care of my little guy (yup, he's STILL there!!)... helping him celebrate the holiday....and doing something that many people in this world cannot do....be a nurse!