Bittersweet...

Today was my very last clinical day as an LPN student!

As much as I am excited to graduate, and begin my career as a nurse, I was so sad leaving the floor! For the past 8 weeks I have spent every Monday, Thursday, and Friday on the 5th floor of the most amazing facility I have ever had clinicals at. The staff was composed of the kind of people I want to surround myself with every day when I go in to work. They always treated us with respect. Unfortunately, as student nurses, we don't often see this. Most of the time we are considered "the worker ants". We are expected to do the dirty work that the employees simply don't want to do. Many times, they will stop what they are doing, and waste their time, to seek out a student just so that they don't have to do it themselves. Acts like that were hardly ever seen here. The staff was more likely to offer to help YOU, than ask YOU to help THEM. It didn't matter what level of training they had. The treated us like we belonged there. They would offer to let us do procedures with our instructor which often held them back so that we could get as much experience as possible. If they asked us to do something, it wasn't to make their life easier, it was to help us learn. They always took the time to answer our questions, as silly as they might be... and never laughed if they asked us to grab something and we grabbed the wrong "something". They would just offer to come with us and show it where it was so that we could find it next time.

Sadly, this facility doesn't hire LPN's. I can only hope that I will find some place just as special to work at until the time comes when I am an RN and I can go work there too. They were inspiring to me. It's a great feeling to have smiling patients who have amazing things to say about their nurses and the hospital that they are in. Being in a hospital is never fun, and nobody really enjoys it, but the patients in this hospital always had great things to say about their experience. I hope that I can always give that feeling to my patients. I want to be the kind of nurse that can brighten the gloomiest room, and put a smile on the most irritated patient. I think I'm headed in the right direction, and the staff that I was exposed to at this facility made me realize that I can be that person.

Farewell 5 Atrium.... Until we meet again... You will be missed!

I smell like a boy.

More specifically, MY boy.

Why? Because I had to drive his car to school today.

Now.. this really doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was really quite dramatic. You see.... I carelessly left my car keys in his truck last night when we went to the gym. I had used them to get my book out of my car before we left and then just left them in his cupholder. So this morning... he took them for a ride to the fire station today where they will remain for 24 hours. You might think that since we all know that I never used to have a spare house key until it became a problem, I might not have a spare car key. But you're wrong. I do have a spare. And I keep it in Ed's truck. I know, I'm a genious.

When I realized this, I called him in a panic to verify that I had, indeed, left my keys where I feared I had. He says "okay, so just take the Camaro to school". I laughed. And then thought about crying. And then thought about calling out sick. And then laughed some more. The Camaro is his race car. It's all decked out with a roll cage, nitrous, harnesses instead of seatbelts, and the big dilemma- a racing seat. A bolted down to the height of a 6'3" driver, racing seat. I'm 5 foot. So he tells me it's okay. He says "Go get this tool thing, and put it in this bolt thing, and move the seat thing, and you'll be fine" (or something like that). Needless to say, I couldn't find the thing that you put the thing into, and started freaking out and getting mad... So we just decided that I would drive on the edge of the seat. IF I could manage to get it out of the driveway since it was blocked in by MY car, and if I could figure out how to drive it.

After a 10 minute over the phone driving course on how to drive this contraption equipped with it's racing transmission that isn't stick, and isn't exactly automatic - I drove around the block (with him on the phone) and decided to pray, and head on out. I stalled 3 times backing out of the driveway, managed to get stuck in a rut of only being able to get into reverse and first gear, called him back in a panic, figured it out, and got to school 30 minutes late. But dangit! I made it! I had some grease on my sleeve, got a lot of weird looks, and I smelled like race car exhaust... but I made it! I also came to clinicals equipped with nothing but a pen because my bag with all of my supplies was in the trunk of my car... but I don't have an absent mark next to my name today!

Obviously I survived the ride home as well because I'm sitting here telling you my story, but the whole day certainly was an interesting experience! I'm quite proud of myself actually. I didn't do too bad, and I'm no longer intimidated by the idea of driving it... It's definitely not comfortable, and if I ever have to do that again, I'm bringing some pillows to fill the gap between my back and the actual back of the seat!!!!

Oh, and I think I'll be making another spare car key too!

I've been shot!

I had to get the flu shot today :(

Ok, I didn't really have to. Nobody dragged me to Walgreens and tied me down to the chair.... but I kindda had to! One of the facilities where we do our clinical rotations is requiring all students to have the Flu Shot or wear a mask when on the floor. Yeah, I'm not wearin' a nasty, stinky, sweaty mask on my face ALL DAY LONG. Especially since I'll be working in OB. Wouldn't you look at me funny if I was holding your baby and wearing a mask? I thought so....

I've never had one before, and never had any intention of getting it. Hopefully it doesn't MAKE me sick. I won't be a happy camper. BUT, I thought ahead and got it today so that if I do get sick, it shouldn't interfere with anything we have going on this month... Like Jessica's wedding in less than 2 weeks! :)

Mutt Monday!

I haven't had a Mutt Monday in what seems like forever. Soooo, since I didn't really do anything exciting this weekend (except spend too much money at Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond) I figured I might as well! We haven't done anything out of the ordinary with Miss Zoey lately, but in looking through my pictures of her, I came across this one, and it is just too beautiful not to share! Isn't she a pretty girl?

We were gonna go out in the boat yesterday, but weather didn't permit.... Maybe this weekend. :-/

Oh, and I did spend some time at my new neighbor/in real life bloggy friend Jess's house watching the boys play some beer pong and baseball. Have ya'll ever heard of baseball? It's weird. And complicated. And requires coordination. What kind of drinking game requires coordination!?!?!? Not one I'll play, that's for sure! I also should mention that they are doing a GREAT job renovating their house. It's a lot of hard work, I know this first hand.... But keep up the good work Jess! It'll all be worth it in the end when you can sit back, relax, and enjoy it :)

And now... I'm off to spend my day off of school studying the Cardiovascular system. I just might have had the boyfriend wake me up early before he left for work so that I could get an early start on being productive and then goofed off, read blogs, bought more stuff at BBB online, and watched Regis and Kelly.

Nah.... Not me!

Overload...

(r/t = related to..... AEB= as evidenced by)

Ahhh! I'm so behind on EVERYTHING and currently experiencing a severe case of OVERLOAD! There are so many things I want/need to do, and I can't because I need to study. My house is a disaster. Our "weekend" bathroom project is just now in it's final stages, and it consumed the whole house! The dust, and the parts, and the tools, are EVERYWHERE! Clutter stresses me out. I have a bad habit of not putting away clean clothes right away, but lately, I haven't been able to get to the closet, and I've been busy with (of course) studying. Clean clothes are consuming my bedroom floor. I guess it's better than dirty clothes! I am super behind on my regular email updates to my awesome cousin in Kentucky. I wanna hear about all little details of the cuteness of her new puppy, married life, and her niece that she doesn't put on her blog. I miss my friends. My friend Jess just bought a house right down the street. She is there almost every day working on it, and I've only been to see her three times. I wanna go help! and hangout! My friend Jenn just got a house too, and I haven't even been there to see it since she moved in a few weeks ago! Thankfully, she's having a housewarming party this weekend so I'll be making the time to go and see, and meet her new puppy!!!!!!! Another friend of mine is feeling the breakup blues and I haven't been around enough for her. It also might be nice to have some relaxing time with the boyfriend, other than working on the house and eating dinner together! I got a little behind with school, and my grades dropped below what I am happy with, so I'm trying to crack down and bring them up. Therefore, I have had to make some sacrifices. Okay, a lot of sacrifices. On top of it all, I've been sacrificing sleep. I miss my sleep! I'm hoping this will all resolve itself and settle down soon. I crave a normal life. I want to know what's it's like to go to work, come home, and be able to do what I want without having to worry about studying, or preparing for the following day. I want to be able to pick up a book and read for leisure without feeling guilty.... and I wanna go to bed early without feeling like I missed out on precious hours. I've NEVER had this. I've been in school my WHOLE life. Ugh. Enough already!!! Hurry up March!!!!! I'll even settle for December. Christmas break will be nice. Unless of course my teacher assigns us stuff to do to "prep" for the new term. Which, she probably will. I know it will all be worth it in the long run, it's just been a loooooooooong run for me, and I'm tired! I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel right now and I'm overwhelmed. I need to get back on a good schedule, get on top of homework and house chores, and find a happy medium. But, right now, I need to go study because I have a big test on Tuesday. (and so... the vicious cycle repeats!)

Farewell crazy mangoes...

My 10 day break just FLEW by! I knew it would, but it's still annoying! I'm not all that disappointed though. I got to do almost everything I wanted. I didn't have as many lazy/boring days to get little non-important things done as I thought I would, but that's okay too.

I let my nails grow out, and painted them a nice BRIGHT color.

Mangoes Loco to be exact!

I spent a day with my bestest friend from high school, and spent that evening with another special friend from high school. We went to see Time Travelers Wife, ate some pizza, and stood around in the parking lot reminiscing about the good ol' days for a few hours!

And then... thankfully... the storms that were heading towards Florida decided to stay far far away, and we took a last minute trip to the keys! So I packed up my shorts, tank tops, flip flops, and bikini's... and the boyfriend took me and my Crazy Mangoes down to paradise for 4 days :)

I love the keys, and our lazy days on the boat out in the sun!

I made it back in time for Jess's bridal shower on Sunday, and on Monday it was time to say goodbye to my Crazy Mangoes, and get back to the books! School started off in full force and we had our first test today. (In case you care, I got an 87) Tomorrow I have my first day of clinicals, so I was able to slack a bit and relax tonight since I don't have anything to prepare for.... Hopefully I have some time to get a little bit ahead of the game this weekend so I can spend some more time relaxing next week, but I doubt it. We have LOTS going on this weekend, and I have 2 tests next week, back to back! I'll try my hardest though, stick with me!

OH! And I almost forgot!!!! Happy 100th Post to ME!

A whole TEN. DAYS. OFF!

Yes, that's right... I have successfully completed Term 2 (with a B!!!!!) and I now have TEN whole days off from school! Yesterday was my first full day off, and I spent it doing productive things I have been meaning to get done, and then spent some time with family (which was also much needed). But now... what to do with the next 9 days? I'm not exactly sure of what all I will be doing, but here are some things I for sure will/will NOT be doing!

• I will NOT be filing my nails down on a regular basis so that they don't pass my fingertips
• I WILL keep polish on those nails, not just the colors you can see through
• I will NOT wear all white sneakers every day
• I will NOT wake up every day at 6:45 (really more like 7....but I won't do that either)
• I WILL spend time in/by my pool
• I WILL play with my puppy dog
• I WILL spend at least one day with my friends
• I WILL get some projects finished (and share them on my blog!)
• I WILL read a book, just for fun
• I WILL get the homework done that my teacher assigned (because she's a butt) so that I'm not behind when I start Term 3. (I'm not excited about this, but it needs to be done)

Anyone else got ideas for things I should do while I'm off? It's going to fly by soooo fast, I just know it! :(

Stupid People Sunday

All I am going to say is - If you can't add single digit numbers without using your fingers, you should not teach math. Especially to nursing students in reference to calculating DRUGS!

The end.

Making the Grade

I'm taking a short break from studying for my test tomorrow to announce that I had a better day today! I got my grade back on Test 1 this morning and I got an 88%! I kind of thought I had done better, but I'm not really disappointed! In fact, I'm pretty proud of it!

Now back to the books so I can do even better on Test 2 tomorrow! Hopefully I'll have time to blog soon, I have some awards to post about and give away!

A "Catcher Upper"

I am definitely behind on updating my blogger friends!

I know I said I would tell you on Tuesday how my first day of school was, and how Ed's grandma was doing, but I have been SO busy this week, the only thing I have had time to post was giveaway links real quick! So sorry!

Anyway, here ya go... this is my "catcher upper" for ya.

Update#1 - School!

School is alright. I love that there is only 24 people in my class and therefore, my teacher already knows my name! And I'm already making friends! At my old school we had over 100 people when we started, and I'm pretty sure my teacher NEVER knew my name. My teacher is really strict, and structured, but I think it's a good thing. Other than the fact that I'm not allowed to have my sunglasses on my head, chew gum, or drink Coke or coffee in class. :( Does she not realize that my well-being and alertness depends on caffeine!?!?!?!?!?!? grrr..... The content is pretty much a review so far, and therefore I am terribly bored in class. AND I look like a smarty pants because I answer so many questions. I'm really trying hard not to look like a know it all... but I can't stand it when teachers try to get the class to interact and everyone just sits there with a blank look on their face afraid to speak up. It's such a waste of time!!!! Therefore, I answer questions and look smart. Whatever. The one thing I'm really having trouble getting used to (other than my caffeine restrictions) is going to school EVERY day of the week from 8-2:30! I haven't had to do that in 6 years or so! It's so wierd to have something to do every single day,it makes the days fly by so fast, AND we have homework. Well... sorta.... It's not anything we have to turn in, but we should do it anyway. It's where that whole class participation thing comes in.... We are given an "outline" of sorts and a list of key terms that we are supposed to complete before lecture so that lecture itself is more of a review and you can ask questions and participate in class. It really is a great idea, and it pushes me not to slack (which I need) but it sure is time consuming! It's also a big change for me since I'm used to working at my own pace. Oh well... I'll get over it all. We had our first test today, and Clinicals at the hospital tomorrow so I don't have any homework and I actually have time to blog a bit! I won't get my grade back until some time next week, but I think I did pretty well. The questions are definitely written at a much lower level than what I'm used to. Hopefully that means good things for me....

Update #2 - Grandma

Surgery went alright. It took much longer than they had anticipated for some reason and it had us all on edge. A predicted 2 hours took over 3 1/2. Not for any particular reason apparently, it just did. (not that they thought it was necessary to update the family when it ran over.... grrr) They accomplished what they needed to by putting in screws where a vertebra had crumbled up, and they biopsied that "spot", but the surgeon doesn't suspect it's anything. He thinks its just the way the bone showed up on the MRI. Watching her in recovery was so sad. She was in so much pain and couldn't get comfortable and there was nothing we could do about it. We worked with the nurses and tried to move her in all kinds of positions and nothing would ease it..... She is doing much better now. I went and saw her yesterday. Even though she was still in agony and was complaining that she didn't think it was all worth it, she looked tons better and I think she just needs time to heal. It's going to be a slow process, and she will likely be in the hospital for some time making sure she can get back to her old self and continue with her daily routines like she always has. She is one tough cookie!

So anyway.. between all this school adjusting and time at the hospital, my blog has been neglected. As well as my house! I just cleaned the floors and vaccumed the couch, and man did it need it! Soooo nasty! We have had two dogs and a boyfriend running around this place with nasty muddy feet from the nasty muddy ground outside from the nasty icky thunderstorms! Bluck! Oh... that's the other thing I did this week.... Picked up Mom, Steve, and Derek from the airport and gave them back their dog! Now there is only one muddy puppy running around this place. Who coincidentally went and body surfed in the mud the day after I gave her a bath. I just never ends....

I have done my blogging duties. I am now off to do the dishes that have been piling up, put away laundry, make dinner, organize my stuff for clinicals tomorrow, and maybe read ahead for school? hahaha... ok, so I might not get to that last one. I sure am going to try though!!!

See why I'm ready for the weekend??!?!?!?!?!

(don't forget to check out all the way cool giveaways going on right now.... as well as my mom's blog. She is definitely due for a new post, but I have seen some of the stuff she is working on lately and I think it's going to be a good one!!!!)