help!

I'm considering making a new blog within this one.  Kind of like a serial newspaper article.

I'll have to figure out how to embed it within one of these pages.

I want it to be loosely based on my adventures at work.  Because of privacy issues, all names will be changed, and certain details will be dramatized and changed to make it unlikely that one could figure out which patient I was talking about.

I guess it will be kind of like a soap opera.  In blog form.

I'll have to figure out just how much I can muddle the facts to make it not a HIPAA violation to post the stories.

--
"you know I need someone"

all i ask of you

I have had a boring life the past couple of weeks.  [although somehow this post became a novel, so I will break it up in the middle with a picture of Corey and Abigail]

Corey got a new gun.  He traded his old pistol for a different one.  He is very happy with it.  I think we will go to the gun range and shoot it tomorrow, since we are both off of work :)

Work has been same old, same old.  I am not necessarily complaining about that, because I would rather it be boring than be interesting because something bad happened to a patient.  Boring days are good days for the patients.

I had an orientee with me this week.  I have never had one before.  I've just precepted students in the past.  She was at the point where she was taking a portion of our patient group by herself, so all I really had to do was check up on her and answer questions and help her with tasks so she stayed caught up.  She reminded me what it was like to be a new grad.  She had all the knowledge, it just takes longer when you're brand new to bring it all out at the right times.  She was doing great though.  And she got a lot of skill experience this week, since she had a busy little group of patients.  Lots of IV starts and even dropping an NG tube.  She was great and smart and I hope I get to have her assigned with me again.

Some nurses do not like having students and orientees.  I like it.  It's like having a friend with you all day. It's good to have someone to talk to.  And it brings out the nerdy "I would be a teacher in another life" me.  I love teaching.  When I was the membership educator of my college sorority, it was the time of my life.  I love sharing knowledge about things I am passionate about.  I like to see that other people who just "like" what they are learning become passionate and love it like I do.  I feel that way about my sorority and I feel that way about nursing.  I also like being able to teach new graduate nurses that they actually are smart, they do know what they are doing, and they will be amazing nurses.

Some nurses (namely the ones who don't like taking students) do not possess the compassion, patience, and encouraging manner required to effectively guide new nurses into the work force.  That is unfortunate.  The new grads we have at our hospital are bright, caring people who need to be nurtured, not put down.  I recently saw one new graduate with a preceptor who made her feel like she was completely incompetent.  It was uncalled for and that nurse got a different job, which I am grateful for, because the orientee got a better preceptor.  She got a preceptor who I had a lot when I first started, so I know she's in excellent hands.  There was a lot of damage control to be done there.

I feel like I had a really unintended soap box speech there.  Sorry, blog.  You know how I can get on a tangent.

A good thing that happened this week (on Monday) was getting my hands blessed again by Sister Anita at work.  I am lucky to work at a Christian hospital that adds loving and serving people like Jesus to the already compassionate, serving nature of our job as nurses.  It reminds me to see people through the eyes of Jesus and realize that even the most cantankerous patient is a child of God who is in a very vulnerable part of life and needs compassionate care like anyone else.  I think working for God at work makes me a better nurse.  I will always carry these ideals with me no matter what organization I am getting paid by.

This has become a terribly long post.


--
"say you love me"

resistance

Well, I never came up with anything good to talk about, but I figured I could ramble for a while like usual and that would make a passable blog post.

Last night I think my flu shot caught up with me and I had the "flu like symptoms" that can occur after getting the vaccine.  I had a low grade fever, headache, and I puked.  Yummy.  Felt like crap and didn't get to sleep until 2, so I called in before I went to bed.  Still felt crappy when I woke up, so I felt a little justified.  I always feel guilty calling in, because I know they are always short nurses.

Despite still feeling a little weak-stomached, I am trying to make a good dinner tonight for Corey.  He has had some crummy days at work, and today had to work from 8am-7pm.  Yuck.  I would not trade him jobs.  Nope.  No thank you.

I am making barbecue boneless pork ribs (thank you, Sam's Club; and thank you, Corey for getting us that membership <3) with macaroni and cheese and green beans (or "fine French beans" as the packaging says; I got apparently the industrial size bag of frozen green beans).

I am going to have to learn how to shop better at Sam's.  I think I got way too much food, and it didn't help that I was hungry when I went.  I feel like I got enough food to last the winter.  I'll figure this out someday.

Dinner is done, so now I wait.  I wish they let him out of work on time :(


--
"take us away from here, protect us from further harm"

paradise

I've been pretty pathetic the past week posting a blog, but I'm really hoping to think of something good by tomorrow night.  We'll see.  It may be this weekend, and it may be Bama Week related.

That said:  F*** The Tide.

I am usually a fan of Nick Saban and the Tide, but not when they're playing the Hogs.  This week, they can go to hell.

:)  Love that SEC football.


--
"lying underneath those stormy skies, she said oh, I know the sun's set to rise."

sunday

Today I thought I would take some pictures of our pretty much all set up (finally!) apartment.  We both work full time, so this took a lot longer than normal.  We finally look like we didn't just move in.  I wanted to update from the first set of pictures I took when I first got everything in.

This one is of the living room.  We still have that silly projector.  Not sure how long we'll really keep that, since we both get pretty fed up with not having a regular TV with regular TV programming.  To watch the important things like the news and the Razorbacks. :)

Here is the kitchen.  Basically unchanged from move-in, but there's not a whole lot one can do with this space, you know.

The entryway/dining area.  Corey's old cafe table is still there, mostly because he still cannot decide what to do with it.  But one should notice that the stacks of tubs of all our crap are gone :)

Office/spare bedroom.  I finally put myself a desk in there!  Yes, that is a blue Angry Bird on my desk.  Corey keeps his red one at work.  I also have my set of "I graduated nursing school" documents on the wall. :)

That is pretty much it.  Our bedroom and the bathrooms, are pretty run-of-the-mill spaces.  No picture evidence needed.

*Soapbox note of the day:  If you are an AT&T customer and you have questions about the release of the iPhone 5 (if they even decide to call it that), DO NOT ask the people at the AT&T store.  Or the Verizon store for that matter.  These employees do not know anything about the iPhone 5 or it's release date or about when it will be released.  And if they do know, they can't tell you anyway, so don't ask.  You are an idiot.  Send Steve Jobs an email.  Or Tim Cook.  Since he's the CEO now.  Ask them.  Not your wireless provider.  You will piss them off and they will hate you for asking ridiculous questions.  Trust me, everyone will know when the new iPhone is coming out, and we will all find out at the same time, I guarantee it.  Likely through the iCloud to our minds.

Long story short, keep idiotic questions to yourself.

--

"I love you in the morning, when you're still hungover"

just a dream

A few things today.


1.
9/11/01

This day was terribly surreal.  I was only in the eighth grade, so I didn't quite understand the implications of what happened, but I knew that everything was going to be different from that day forward.  And it was.  The events that day and the actions of a few people rippled out so far and wide and affected things and people that we could not foresee and did not expect.  I'll never forget that day, nor will I forget the sense of togetherness I felt as a citizen of the US after we were attacked by terrorists.  This day taught me that as people, we have to love and take care of one another because anything can happen at any time.
Love thy neighbor.


2.
Second thing is a present I got myself this week.  

Lady Gaga heartbeats.  I had wanted these for quite some time, so the other day I decided to just get them.  I love them to death, and yes, I have listened to a lot of Lady Gaga through them :)

3.

Last thing is a meme.  Haven't done one in a while. :)

--

Obviously you're bored or you wouldn't be reading this. Now that you did, the rules are you MUST post your own answers! You must tag 5 people (not happening, obviously).

Favorite Color?

Yellow

Favorite Name?

Of what?  Let's go with girls' name:  Scarlett

Favorite Cartoon?

Scooby Doo

Favorite Ice Cream?

Chunky Monkey by Ben and Jerry's

Favorite Person?

Ruby Watson (my sister :) )

Favorite Number?

12

Favorite Store?

I have a lot of favorites:  Gap, Sephora, Antique stores, Mountain Man Gun & Pawn, TJMaxx, and probably a lot of others.  I really like to shop.

Favorite Sport?

To watch: College Football

To play: Softball

Favorite Animal?

All of 'em except spiders and snakes.  For real, though, I like monkeys and giraffes.  I love science and animals.

 

Favorite Food?

Grilled cheese

Favorite Drink?

Chocolate Milk.  Or coffee.  Or Green Machine Naked juice smoothie.

 

Favorite type of candy?

Jolly Rancher

Favorite Book?

Wuthering Heights.  Also like Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Sense and Sensibility.

 

Favorite Magazine?

National Geographic

Favorite Flower?

Orchids of any kind or yellow roses.

 

Favorite Music?

Coldplay; favorite genre, I guess, is British alternative, but I am also known to love Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber.  And Relient K.

Favorite Movie?

It's a Wonderful Life

Favorite TV show?

House; also see:  The Tudors, Top Shot, COPS

 

Who you got this from?

Facebook friend, Geoff

--

"I was counting on forever, now I'll never know"

love is a long road

First thing:  I switched to the new Blogger interface and have been using it just to get acquainted with it (so maybe I won't hate it so much).  The only thing I hate is in this post window, the HTML view is not as easy to use.  Make that part like the old one, Blogger, and you will have my 100% approval. :)

So I survived all those million days at work.  God must have been on my side because my patient groups were better than I expected and made it possible for me to not die of exhaustion by the end of the stretch.  I finally had some normal days again.  Looking forward to my current 3 day off stretch helped, too. :)

I am finalizing my fantasy football team this week since the NFL season starts this weekend.  :))  I am getting used to the auction/keeper way of playing fantasy, which my league has never played before.  I play fantasy with the same people every year.  Friends from band. :)  Mainly Paul, Kate, Aaron and most of the same other friends of Paul's.

My team name is "My Fair Brady:  Season 2."  My team last year was My Fair Brady, so since I picked up Brady again as my starter, I used the same team name.  Half the fun of preseason is looking at the names others pick out for their teams.  This year's include "BLOUNT FORCE TRAUMA," "It's Mike Vick in a Box," and "Bull Moose Party."

I've never been like a fantasy champion or anything, but it sure is fun.

--

"give her one more chance to try and save my soul"

americano

I had a long past three days of work and no time to boot up the ol' Mac for blog posting.

Today is my day off after 3 in a row and I work tomorrow and Monday, too. After all this, I will need a serious vacation.

I'm trying to relax as much as I can at home today, while still catching up on laundering work clothes for Corey and I and trying to clean up the house some.

In my relaxation efforts, I found online a face mask based with baking soda and orange juice. It is supposed to clean pores and brighten the skin. I also added some banana pieces because another mask recipe said that was good for oily skin. My skin does get oily in the T zone. I have textbook combination skin. The mask sure smells yummy, we'll see what it does to my face.

For lunch I am making bagel pizza. I have this block of mozzarella left from a couple days ago and some tomatoes, so I put them atop a split whole wheat bagel with alfredo sauce.

Before baking:

After baking:

I put some parmesan cheese and garlic on top near the end of baking. I really just needed to bake long enough to melt the cheese and cook the tomatoes and garlic. This would probably taste even better on regular pizza crust or a plain bagel.

FYI, today is the opening day of college football!! I'll be listening to the Razorbacks on the radio, since the game is pay-per-view and I do not have tickets this year :( Anyway, Go Hogs!!!


 --
"I will fight for, I have fought for how I love you"