Because I have 10 minutes to kill…

I have 10 minutes before I need to leave to be at an appointment… so, here are some “oh-so-boring” things and/or ideas (some which I might have repeated in older posts… who knows).

1. I never wear matching black socks. They will be black socks..but the patterns will always be different. I don’t have time to match my socks… so, I throw all the black ones into a pile and pick two in the morning when I’m getting dressed. (I told you.. it’s a boring fact).

2. I’m not so into this World Series. I’m happy the Phillies are in it..but besides that.. it hasn’t been all that exciting. I just hope that they get a chance to finish it off tonight. It would be nice to be over with baseball for a season.

3. I’m working in the ER on Halloween night. Yes, I volunteered for it. I know. I’m crazy.

4. Black Licorce is my favorite. Especially the Scottie Dogs at Trader Joes.

5. Even though I have a Blackberry & used to own a PDA (which is now an expensive paperweight) I still write my calendar events down in a filofax (my beloved cherry color that I bought at Harrods 3 years ago).

6. I have no idea where I’ll be living next summer.

7. I have no idea where I’ll be working next summer.

8. I’m scared crapless about the NCLEX.

9. I ate the most amazing overpriced rice krispie treat from Starbucks today…  Chewy & buttery…

10. Looking forward to the return of  “30 Rock” on Thursday night. I think it’s probably the most creative comedy on TV right now.

11. I miss Arrested Development.

12. I still haven’t bought my Orla Kiely back yet. I would ask for it for Christmas… but my parents will totally balk at the price tag.

13. I can’t find my tall black boots. If you saw my room you would know why.

14. Maybe not finding my tall black boots is God’s way of telling me I can buy a new pair that I saw on Zappos.com?

15. What’s the deal with when I was walking through Lord & Taylor (a department store for all you men out there) in NYC there was a perfume spritzer lady like every 5 feet???????  Another thing about me… I hate perfume. Don’t understand it the need to spend money on it.

16. Another food for the “evil” Trader Joe’s list: White Chicken Chili… Yum. I had it last night with sour cream and cheese dolloped on top.  A wonderful winter dinner. I only needed a fireplace.

17. I have 2 minutes left and then I need to leave & drive to King of Prussia.

18. My TMobile bill was only $83 this month… down from $122 last month… I still went over my minutes..  Next month should be lower (but, I am excited that it went down $83 is much more managable).

19. I think I want to be Duff’s secret girlfriend. His cakes are amazing.

Ta-ta for now. Enjoy your Wednesday night (I’ll probably be watching the Phillies and doing laundry).

Rainy Evening…

I just finished with a really happy subject: pediatric burns. What joy. Anyway, instead of going to Jamie and Sue’s tonight I’m just going to stay in and watch the game. It’s raining right now so I don’t know if they will call the World Series game.. if they do, I’ll end up watching the PSU-OSU game. I think that actually might be more exciting than the baseball game.

So… yesterday I spend the day in NYC. I was pretty impressed with the Bolt Bus. It was late getting to 30th street in the morning.. which was only a problem because it was like 45 degrees outside and I had dressed for much warmer weather. It’s a great way to travel b/t the two cities and I’ll be taking it again.

The bus let us off at 36th & 8th Avenues… kitty corner from Madison Square Garden. I think we got there about 9.40ish… From there I walked and I walked and I walked and I walked all the way to 81st & 5th Avenues. It took me a little over an hour… I guess I could have figured out the subway to the museum…but it was a nice morning and I liked the exercise.

I got to the Met and walked about for about 90 minutes.. I can only take the Met in small doses.. the place is just sooo overwhelming. Here is my favorite place in the museum:

After the museum I found the correct subway and took it to Union Square to meet my friend Peter for lunch (Peter moved to NYC a few months ago… I haven’t seen him in probably 2 years…and probably it would be longer but I ran into him on the street randomly when I was walking in the city). At Union Square was a great Fall festival. There were a lot of food vendors and musicians…

So.. after lunch I walked back up 5th Avenue towards Times Square. I happened upon this place (THIS IS FOR YOU SCOTT!):

So, yes. There is a “Museum of Sex” in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.. i actually thought he was joking. I did go inside to see how much it cost to walk through the museum. It was a $15 admission fee.. which, after spending almost $25 to go the Met… I didn’t want to spend the extra money. I DID go into the gift shop… And, I’m amazed at what they were selling. The thing that made me chuckle was the “Losing Your Virginity” kit… it was packaged in an old fashioned tin lunch box… inside were a few unmentionable items along with a frameable certificate to document the time and day that they deed was done.

I took a 5pm bus back to Philly and then my train was at 8pm back to Media… by the time I got home I was wiped out…. so, I watched the Dinner Impossible episode that was filmed at Jefferson. This is the first one I have watched with the new guy… I also liked the old guy better. And really… banana pudding stuff???? It looked like yellow vomit. I would have NEVER ate that. The pork looked good… And so did the carrot soup… although I usually don’t like cold soups.

That’s about it for now.. It’s almost 8pm.. need to go see if the game was called due to rain (which, it’s not raining now… so, it’s probably still happening).

Ta-ta.

My 3 day weekend is finally here…

I’ve been up since 3.30 this morning (it’s now almost 5.20am). I needed to study some more for my microbiology test at 8am. I also packed up the cookies I am bringing to the bake sale for school. I cheated a little (no…. I guess a lot) and bought some cookies at Trader Joes… they are better than anything I could make and they “look” homemade.. so it’s all good.

Clutzy thing that I did yesterday: I sliced/cut my finger open in the bathroom at school. My finger bled for about an hour… I was trying to open the latch in the stall.. and the stupid thing was not sliding correctly… well, my finger got stuck and when I finally was able to slide it open…. it took most of the skin off my index finger. I went to pharm class w/ a piece of paper towel around it… after 30 minutes the blood was soaking through… UGH.

My pharm test was ok yesterday.. 80%… I’ll take that… I just don’t want to fail anything…

Tomorrow I’m heading up to NYC to the Met. Totally utterly my favorite museum. I think I first fell in love with it when I saw “When Harry Met Sally”.. when they were walking around (I can’t remember which room they were in)…but one wall was all glass and you could see the Fall leaves….

Tonight I’m going to be lazy and just watch TV… I have a Netflix movie to watch (“You Kill Me”… Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni), some taped shows (Yes, Dinner Impossible will be watched!!!), and the World Series. Next week I have NO EXAMS AT ALL!!!!!!!!! I still have a lot of work to do..but the pressure is off for studying for at least one week.

That’s it for this morning. Time for my OJ and cereal.

Ta-ta for now.

Alone.

Stupid waves of loneliness. I have one right now and it sucks.

It makes it really hard to memorize Alpha & Beta Blockers.

Last Day…

Today was my last day on the Neuro floor. 3 weeks wasn’t nearly enough time to digest all that happens on that unit. That being said.. I’m kinda glad that it was my last day on that floor for now.

I had my evaluation this afternoon with my clinical instructor and she said some things that I already knew. She said: “you are highly intelligent, but you need to work on your self confidence.” Yep. Knew it. The nurse I was paired w/ for the last two days was an amazing teacher. She has only been a nurse for not even 2 years and she seems so comfortable with everything. Anyway, as I was saying goodbye to her I started crying because I was afraid that I was a hinderance to her. I know how staff sometimes hate when there are students on the floor. I always feel like I’m in the way. I know I’m supposed to be learning…and I definitely learned tons these past few weeks.. but it’s hard to get over the fact that I feel like I’m in the way most of the time.

My instructor also commented on my care plan and said that my summary of my patient was “master level work” (as in a graduate degree). She said that the insight that I wrote about was far beyond my experience as a student. Well, I think it was because I wasn’t really looking at it from a nursing student’s perspective… I was looking at it from the patient perspective.

Kimberly… I rec’d your email earlier this morning about Robert Irvine…. The whole day at clinical I was trying to jump start my brain into remembering who the heck Robert Irvine was and why I called him a liar…. And, thankfully Scott came to the rescue… You know… I watch Dinner: Impossible off and on… and NEVER, EVER knew the guy’s name… I chuckled when I saw Scott’s post about who the guy was. He clearly is a talented guy (Irvine… not Scott–although maybe you are???) in the kitchen… so, it’s sad that he had to lie about stuff on his resume (or I think stretch the truth is more likely offense).

Today here is a perfect Fall day again.. I think it rained earlier..but it’s almost 4pm and the sun and the wind and the temp are perfect. I hope it’s like this for my day in NYC on Friday. October is such a great month.

That’s about it from my part of the world today. Hope you all had a great Tuesday.

Procrastinating again…

Got back from the grocery store at 6.30… it’s now 7.30… still haven’t started studying… I know this will bite me in the arse come Wednesday (I have two exams on Wed, one on Thursday).

I talked on the phone with a classmate for a bit and then read the news… Awhile ago I posted about a Mormon who made a calendar of former missonaries… I can’t remember if they were undressed or not… but for some reason I think they were… Anyway, there was an article today… Brigham Young University took away his college degree because he is no longer a Mormon in good standing… Ok..I can see withholding the degree if you don’t pay your tuition ….but for not belonging to their religion anymore… (I just did a crappy job of summarizing the article on cnn.com… sorry for that).

Ok.. I really should study now…

One more funny story… i was at the check out line at the Acme.. I had about 10 items… and there was a guy behind me… the checkout lady was this 60ish lady and she kept yelling at the man to get his cart for me to put my groceries in… I guess you had to be there… Anyway, we looked at each other and at this crazy woman before she put it together that we WEREN’T together… She says “ahh… I’m trying to matchmake at the grocery store… that’s going to get me in trouble.” It was worth a chuckle.

I must be getting better.. I’m chuckling at my singleness.

It was one of those days…

So… I got home about 20 minutes ago and realized I hadn’t peed all day.. that’s 13 hours folks. Up at 4.30.. and home at 5.30… 13 frickin’ hours.

Clinical was interesting… had a patient that needed a lot of care. Jeremy was working in the room right next to my room. Ok folks… I made it through most of my clinical not caring… I even said “hi.”… Today was just too much…. I started crying… I know, I know… It wasn’t even really him I was crying about…Thankfully, tomorrow is my last day there.

After 8 hours there… we were *forced* to go sit and listen a lecture by some Ph.D woman from Yale about nursing and cancer… Jefferson has a way of forcing people to attend lectures that they think are important… they want the seats filled. I hate being forced to do anything… especially sit through a lecture that has no bearing on me whatsoever… so, I did what I needed to do.. I slept in the back row. (I know… I’m not being the best student/example)

Then to make matters worse… I missed my train… and stopped by to see a friend who works at Jeff. I found out that she & her husband separated after 14 years of marriage and are divorcing. Royally sucks. I started crying when she told me that.

Now I’m home….Stressed but home. I now have a few tests to study for and I’m trying to figure out what is the best way to go. First things first… Need to run to the Acme for some groceries… or to Trader Joes… which is probably quicker.

Later.

Killing time before I head to work…

I have to leave for work in about 25 minutes… so, instead of cleaning… I’m writing.

Part I: Things I did today.

4.30am: got up
studied until 6am
6.00am: got ready to go
6.30am: took the train into the city for school.
7.35am: spent $3.75 on a Tall, Not Fat Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks
7.45am: got to class
7.56a: starting filling out those crazy little bubbles on my scantron form
8am: started my 2nd Neuro Test
8.13am: said to myself “oh crap…” when I skipped about 4 questions in a row b/c I didn’t know the answers
8.45am: turned in my test
9am: talked through some of the answers with classmates
10am: took the train back home
12pm: found out my grade on the test
1.15pm: drove to Delaware to buy my new digital camera (mine crapped out on me in Ireland)
1.45pm: left Best Buy with a new Canon camera.. v.v. happy.
2.30pm: got back home, ate lunch (potato pancakes w/ sour cream), & watched an episode of “Monk”
3.45pm: took a little nap
4.25pm: started fiddling with my new camera
5.30pm: started typing this entry.

Part II: Things that I believe
During this political season I’ve been trying formulate my beliefs on a few “controversial” issues… People who read this blog might disagree with me…but that’s fine. You are you and I am me (is that how it goes???). It’s OK to have different beliefs and still be friends (well.. in THEORY that’s how it’s supposed to work out).

So here are a few things that I believe in no order whatsoever:
1. I believe that homosexuals should be able to serve openly in the armed forces.
2. I believe that homosexuals should have equal rights and benefits but do not believe in gay marriage. That should be reserved for one man & one woman.
3. I don’t think Universal Health Care is the way to go. Our way isn’t great…everyone should have insurance…but there must be a better way than what Canada has or the European Model.
4. I do not think Roe v Wade should be overturned. Bottom line.. women are going to get abortions. Do I think they should get them? No. But should the procedure still be legal and be available? Yes. Are there cases when a woman’s life is at risk and she might need to have an abortion to remain alive? Yes.
The abortion rate is going down.. I think education is better than picketing abortion clinics. I think this issue should be tabled and not be a central issue for Republicans as it has been in the past.

Ok.. I think those are enough controversial statements for a day.

Part III: Things I should have done today instead of goof off.
1. Finished my care plan for Monday
2. Start & finish my HESI remediation because I failed the test.
3. Go to Staples and buy new ink cartridges for my printer.
4. Do laundry
5. Wash dishes
6. Clean the bathroom
7. Started studying for my 3 exams next week

Ok.. that’s it.

Oh.. before I forget… I got an “A” on my test!! 94%

Not Motivated..

I mean.. come on… it’s kinda hard to get motivated to study Huntington’s Disease…

We all know how it ends…

The Light at the End of the Tunnel..

Right now it’s a pinpoint… I can barely see it…but as the days and weeks go by… that pinpoint gets bigger. I am now almost finished with Week 7 of the Fall semester. Before I know it… school will be over and I’ll be starting my career somewhere….

I mention that now because it seems that much closer. I just returned home from an information session for Main Line Health. It was geared towards nurse externs… Anyway, Main Line is an amazing health system and I knew the pay would be good…but I didn’t know how good… It’s considerably more money than I have ever made in my adult working life. Enough that I could live comfortably in PA and also pay off my loans (ie.. I could buy that Orla Kiely bag.. maybe two or three!!!).

I’m also will be applying at a few hospitals in Indy & in Ohio (probably Columbus). So, we will see what they have to offer… It’s amazing to be in a career where I could literally go anywhere I want in the country and get a job.. It’s so bizarre for me because that usually isn’t the case in the business world.

In other news… I’ve come to realize that Obama will probably will the election in November. I’m not happy about it..but it’s democracy… He will get 4 years… if we don’t like him… we can always change. The thing that I don’t like.. and I’m probably also guilty of it (but not as much because I respect our current President) is all the bashing. Someone I know wrote on their Facebook page “Is anything coming out of W.’s mouth actually important?” (or something to that effect)… That’s a tame comment. I know it’s our right to say what we think about our elected leaders… But sometimes they are just plain mean & disrespectful. I would not want that job.. 99% of Americans would NOT want to be president… but suddenly we all think we can do a better job than W. Anyway, I know those thoughts aren’t very profound…

One of my classmates today was showing off her engagement ring. I hate that stuff like that makes me sad instead of happy. I just wish that just ONCE in my life… when I’m interested in someone.. that the feeling would be mutual and it would work out. I’m tired of being disappointed. But instead of learning my lesson and keeping my heart locked up… I let it out and get hurt again. And again. And again. And again.

Ok.. that’s it for now… must study for another neuro test for Friday morning. Oh, yea.. and a little baseball game is on tonight. Thank God I LOVE baseball and say “Go Phillies” (*** my love of baseball does exclude anything and everything to do with the Chicago Cubs).

Ta-ta for now.