Day 177: February 20, 2010

Quote of the Day:  "Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough." -Og Mandino

I've been a busy bee today! I got up, I did about two hours of practice NCLEX test questions, I talked to Ron, I cleaned up the kitchen and mopped the floor, I watched a movie, I did about four hours of homework, I read a little bit of a book... I actually got a lot done! I sure can feel it in my neck, though... it's been stiff and sore for a couple days, but today it's actually a little worse. Maybe I'm sleeping wrong at night, and it isn't stress like I was thinking it is? Hard to tell.

The cats have been freed from their prison a day early.  I let them out tonight because the countertops seem pretty much done to me. As  precaution I've kept their cat food on the floor until tomorrow night, but they are sure glad to be out and about.  I just let them out about half an hour ago, and Tiger has been zooming around the house ever since chasing his crinkly ball.  No sign of where Tiny disappeared to, so I have no idea what he's up to. Mika is pacing the house crying because I won't give her canned food. I'm so mean!!!  She keeps going back into the bedroom because she just knows that Tiny gets his canned food in my bathroom and it's just not fair because she's the princess, and she should get her very own can too, and doesn't she deserve it for putting up with the two guys, and how can I be so mean to her, and on and on and on it goes.  You'd honestly think she was going to die if I didn't feed her a can right this very second! What a spoiled little brat! LOL

Cody came back from his church thing tonight sick to his stomach. He evidently learned a valuable lesson... you just can't go thirty hours fasting and then expect to be able to pig out on four plates full of food... your stomach is going to rebel against it. BIG time.  But he had a lot of fun, and after about an hour he was feeling better. At least he didn't get sick or anything.  I don't think he'll want to try the fasting business again any time soon, but on the way home he regaled me with stories of how in Ethiopia most people can't read, and they drink the same water they wash their feet and bodies in, and on and on.   So at least some of the information he was MEANT to learn he remembered. I was really wondering if that would be the case, or if he would only concentrate on the fun and games part of it.  So I guess you can say I am a little impressed by him tonight.
Tomorrow I have to get up and get right to folding and putting away laundry, and vacuuming and dusting, so that I can get started again on homework. Maybe I can mow the yard, if it's warm enough tomorrow. Who knows, though, with the way the weather has been all crazy lately.  I think I may go up into the attic and change the A/C filter, too, maybe that will help with some of the sinus problems we've all been having. Well, Cody and I anyways... Damien is just never home anymore. I'm about to go buy him a box of trash bags for his room, though... I had to go in there today to get water to mop with because I can't get the counter wet yet, and his bathroom floor is full of dirty clothes. And there's hair on the sink from where he's cut his hair, and hair in the tub from getting clogged in the drain... and I don't even want to KNOW what all else there is in that pit... I quit looking. Boys are soooo gross!!!! God save me, please, from their disgusting laziness!  I'm seriously going to take away everything but clothes out of BOTH their rooms pretty soon. THAT will teach them to clean up after themselves. Or just make extra work for me, because they won't care either way. You just can't win with teenagers.  That's why God made sex so great... if people didn't get enjoyment from it, no one in their right minds would EVER choose to have kids.

Quote of the Day: "What is love…. But a friend who has remained beside me and never once removed his hand." – Hugh Prather

I cannot believe I forgot again!!! Oh, well, it's not like it hasn't been a crazy busy week or anything, what with having something school related every single day. Yesterday was my mother/baby clinical, and I really enjoyed it a lot.... I thought I blogged about it, to be honest with you, but I guess I didn't. Anyways, I had pediatrics, which were interesting to say the least. Not my cup of tea, though, I don't think. Something about the little ones being sick, and dealing with parents. I'll be much happier working with the new parents.  I did learn to use some new equipment while I was there, and  assisted with blood draws for cultures. It was an enjoyable day.  Then, when I got home I immediately started working on the kitchen countertops, since I already had them all taped up and ready to go.  I figured that if I got them done a day early they would be DONE a day early, so now they're all finished and curing. And I checked them this morning, and the good news is that THIS time there aren't any spots which aren't curing. Every part of the countertops are already hard on the surface, so by Sunday night I'll be able to put the kitchen back together and put some pictures on here for you.  Which is a good thing, because I have been going CRAZY with having the cats locked up in my bedroom this whole time... and I'm sure they aren't doing much better.

I had a test-taking skills class in Vernon today, where they try to tell you some of the ways to look at nursing questions and get the right answer.  I know a lot of  you haven't seen what a nursing question for the nursing boards looks like, so here's a sample:
    "After a suprapubic prostatectomy, the nurse understands that a client's plan of care must
     include the prevention of postoperative deep vein thrombosis.  This can best be achieved
     by increasing the:
            a. Coagulability of the blood
            b. Velocity of the venous return
            c. Effectiveness of internal respiration
            d. Oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood"

Can you see my dilemma? All my life I've taken tests that test you on what you know, and the nursing questions are designed to test you on how you would APPLY what you know. It's a whole new game, and I'm still getting used to it.  But I'm getting there, and hopefully by the time our HESI test comes around, or the NCLEX-RN, I'll be fully ready for it.  We also have another class next week for the same thing, so I'm sure it'll help at least a little. Have to do SOMETHING to get it through my head! LOL  I just hope that I didn't come this far only to fall down on the last lap... I need strength! HAHAHA

After my class, I went and got my hair done, and MAN, do I love it!!!! Liz does a great job, and I am supremely happy with the way it turned out... I have highlights now! What do you think?

I am loving it! LOL 

Day 174: February 17, 2010

Quote of the Day: "The entire sum of existence is the magic of being needed by just one person." – V. Putnam

Oh, man, am I tired, again. Classes today went pretty well. I had my first psych test, and got an 83 on it. Which is not bad for the short amount of time I had to study for it. I was expecting a lot worse.  There were a lot of really strangely worded questions on it. And let's face it... mental health is NOT one of my best subjects. There's too much objectivity and too many variables for me to be comfortable with it.  Too many gray areas.  I really enjoy learning about everything, and the clinicals are awesome, but I think that it would take more than just a week or two of studying for each test for me to truly have the time to grasp all the small details.  There are too many similarities in the various disorders, and we have to learn how each individual culture views each disorder, or if they even consider them a disorder. Man, it's a lot to take in when you're sleep deprived!

Tomorrow I have my first pediatric clinical, and I'm a little nervous about it because I have no idea what it's going to be like. The patients can be months old all the way up to 18.   Everyone who's been to it so far either loves it or hates it, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.  It can't be that much different than dealing with my own kids, right? Except that there's a parent breathing down your neck! LOL  Oh, well, I've been on the hospitalized kid side of it, so now I'll be on the other side and see what it's like. I can tell you that now I understand why the nurses rarely came into the rooms when we were in the hospital. They're too darn busy! LOL

I just realized something today... I am going to be the same age when I graduate from nursing school as my mother was when she graduated from Southwestern Medical Academy.  I can still remember her going to school. It's kind of funny how I thought she was SOOO OLD, and now here I am doing the same thing.  TOO funny! I guess I really am old, then! LOL

Day 173: February 16, 2010

Quote of the Day: "No matter how steep the mountain - the Lord is going to climb it with you."  - Helen Steiner Rice

Today is not a good day. Well, it was a good day as far as not much going wrong, but I've been in a complete funk all day. And SOMEONE got on my laptop today while I was gone, and used an SD card to open up all sorts of bull%#*@ things on here, which I am HIGHLY ticked off about! It was pornographic, and NOT at all the good kind. I would love to get ahold of whichever of my two little idiots that did it and knock the tar out of them. But of course, Not Me reigned supreme, and I have no way of proving which one of them did it and which one didn't.  I'm about to spend thousands of dollars on a damn video surveillance system for this house so I can find out who Not Me is and put the fear of ME in him. Nothing makes you feel more violated than someone going into your personal space and using YOUR things, in an inappropriate manner and without permission!
 
Other than that, things are just getting to me lately. I have no idea why, but I'm just so damn tired all the time now, like I haven't slept in a week. I'm averaging about four hours a day where I actually feel awake and can focus, and the rest of the time I could easily lay down and fall right to sleep. I think my quality of sleep has suffered quite a bit lately, and although I'm in bed long enough I just don't ever feel rested. I have been tossing around the idea of having a sleep study done, but gee... when would I ever have that chance? Not until MAY at the earliest. I hate the fact that so much of my life is taken up by school. I resent that I don't even have the time to clean up the house anymore, or do the laundry. I have to fit it into little 15 minute segments here and there, so as you can imagine NOTHING is ever done, and no room is EVER clean. I really hate it! I'm not the kind of person who enjoys living in filth, and yet I have a sink that is full to capacity with dirty dishes with no time to take care of it. And God knows that I can't depend on my worthless children to help me with it, they're too busy playing around and being self-centered. Oh, yeah... and looking at porn on my damn laptop!
 
I'd better say something positive or you'll think that there was NOTHING good about today at all. I did call the Human Resources at United Regional back, and I have an interview set up for Tuesday with them, which I am looking forward to. So that was good.  Incidentally, I found out something interesting today... I had a spare key made to my car at Lowe's today (thanks to mine getting lost), and found that it will open the door and start the car.... but the car will start, then idle for two seconds, then die. My regular key works fine. So what's up with that???? Is that a safety feature or something? Do you have to go directly to the dealership to get a key that works, and pay five times as much? What the heck???  Oh, and in honor of Ron coming home, I made a hair appointment for Friday.  That should be good. And Tiny went to the vet today for his follow-up, and she says he looks great and has gained a pound back. So yay, Tiny. Way to go on the getting better. Now quit peeing on the dog bed when there's a completely clean litter box just two feet from it, would you please??? Geez!

Day 172: February 15, 2010

Quote of the Day: "It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Remember that job I applied for at the hospital on Friday?  Imagine my surprise when I left clinicals today and had a voicemail from the Human Resources department asking for me to call her back! Already! I was prepared to have to wait a month or two like the last time I applied at the hospital, and was floored to have already been called. I was so excited afterward that I pretty much drove home from clinicals on cloud nine! The way I see it, even if I don't get the position I have actually taken the first step toward my new nursing career! I am a little nervous about it, because I am going into it having no nursing experience as an RN other than my clinical rotations, which are good experience but aren't truly a J-O-B, and am not sure what steps to take. My biggest concern is that I just don't know what to expect at an interview. I'm hoping that having good prior work history on my other jobs will help me out. One other problem is that my resume was stored on the hospital's online system, from the last job I applied for there, and it was prior to my working as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) at Texas Specialty Hospital.  I tried to update it several times with the new job info, but it kept reverting to the prior version and wouldn't take the new employment info. So I'm going to have to take an updated resume with me to any interview I go on, and explain that it would not let me update it. I'm hoping that doesn't end up leaving a bad impression, but we'll see what happens, right?  Wish me lots of luck... I REALLY want this particular job.  I'd even be willing to forego my trip to Reno we've had planned for over a year if it meant the difference between getting the position or being skipped over! And that is BIG, my friends, BIG. Since I've been so looking forward to that trip, and all.

My clinicals today went really well again, too. I didn't even realize that today is a holiday until we were driving to Vernon and saw all the American flags out.  That's not normally a problem, except that at the State Hospital they short-staff on federal holidays. So the patients all stayed on their subs all day and didn't get to go out and about to the day room or classes, which would have made it to where we could have had more interaction with them. It worked out okay, though, because we were able to see a lot of the "behind the scenes" things that go on, like the passing out of medications, the way things are run, and things like that. We did get to interact with quite a few patients, but not enough to say that it was a worthwhile day for mental health observation.  The patient interactions we DID have, though, were pretty good. We got to read a lot of the charts, and that was interesting in and of itself.  It's funny how nearly everyone will give you a different story of why they're there than what is in the chart!!!  Someone could be there for aggravated assault, and be there for "a misunderstanding." It's really interesting how many different ways they have of coping with their issues. And denial, too... though we all have that problem!

Oh, and did I tell you I learned something about myself today? I'm totally clueless sometimes! Well, I knew that, but it hit me in the face today that it isn't always a good thing.  See, it was dinnertime, and all the patients are called according to their badge color to dinner, and I was standing just inside the dining room door, talking to one of the workers. And this one patient, a really tall (taller than Ron tall) guy, came literally running from the other side of the day room when his name was called, chanting "Yums, yums, yums" or something like that. Well, he didn't really STOP running, he just ran right past the worker, grabbing his meal card as he went, and didn't stop until he was about a foot in front of me, and leaned over my head to get some hand sanitizer from a cabinet behind me.  It didn't really even hit me until he was walking over to the food line that had he been intent on doing bodily injury I wouldn't have even realized it. Well, maybe I would have, if it weren't for the fact that I knew everyone was ready to eat, and there hadn't been any signs of agression.  But he was REAL tall, so he probably could have snapped me like a twig. And it would have been my fault.  Guess I can't help it that I'm a trusting person. I'd have to watch my back really, really well if I got a job somewhere like that.

Day 171: February 14th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "To love is nothing. To be loved is something. To love, and be loved, is everything." – T. Tolis V.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! Things here have been going along at a steady pace all day long. I've gotten my homework all caught up for my classes this week, and have been busily getting ready for my clinicals tomorrow and trying to work on the blog book. The plan is that once Ron gets home, we'll take all these blogs I've been turning out every day, and make them into a book that we can save. Just something fun to do that the kids can keep and pass on to future generations, or whatever the case may be. The problem is that it's going to take me a LOT of time to do, because it has to all be set up on the pages just right or it won't print out.  So.... it's taking a long time to do. Good thing we HAVE a long time to get it done, huh?

Cody's his usual self again. He came home and went straight to the fridge, foregoing the homework altogether. I got on him about it, but I don't know how much he actually got done. I just asked him again and he says that he got it finished, so I'll go check on it real quick before I head to bed. Tomorrow I have clinicals at the State Hospital again, so it's going to be busy, busy, busy the whole 12 hour shift. Should be a really nice, long day.  There's always a risk, I suppose, going out there. But I don't see it as that, I see it as something really interesting.  I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment, but I enjoy the challenge. And you've got to admit, not many people get to see a "mental" hospital from the inside. Without being insane, that is, I guess! LOL

Oh, yeah... how do you like my horrible picture??? I absolutely hate it!! If they didn't force you to pay for it I would never have paid the fee to get the class composite.  Sigh. Just the way EVERYONE wants to be remembered... looking like a total dweeb!