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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Thursday's jumble in my brain

I've been a bit more jumbled up lately.  Blame it on school, life, job, whatever.  I'm just busy...and jumbled.

I ordered my nursing pin for my pinning ceremony.  Now you peeps that are not nurses...Us nurses are so special we get a pinning ceremony AND an actual graduation where we walk and get our diploma.  Yup.  That's what hard work will get ya.  Two graduations for the price of one.  Some of my friends are not gonna walk at graduation.  I was like, "WHAT?!?!?!"  My parents are coming from out of town and I'm the first person to have an actual college degree in our family.  You can bet your ass I'm walking!!

Wouldn't you walk???




I'm currently addicted to Alex and Ani bracelets.  They make me happy.  I absolutely love every bracelet.  Here are just a few reasons:

-They are handcrafted in the good ole US of A!!  And because each one is handmade they are all    slightly different.

-They all have certain meanings and messages.

-Each bracelet they sell a certain portion of the proceeds will go to an American charity.  All different charities, and you even get a little card telling you which one.

-They are super cute, especially when you have several and you stack 'em!

-They are super affordable.

We have a local store here, and I cannot stop going there (okay, I've only been twice).  I bought my running buddy one for her birthday this week, and she loved it!!!

Here is a pic of the ones I have:



If you'd like to buy browse their website, go here. **  (They also make cute earrings, necklaces, and rings!)

I have surgery scheduled for Monday (first day of my spring break!!!) to release my joint capsule and remove the scar tissue that has accumulated.  I'm super happy about it.  I am so tired of waking up and my hand feeling swollen and stiff.  I even had a dream last night that I could make a fist!!  What?!?!  It was awesome, the tip of my pinky touched my palm.  (Yup, you're totally doing that right now, aren't you???)  I haven't been able to do that for like...oh almost 6 months!

So send good vibes to me on Monday around 1000 Eastern Time, I'll be under the knife and in a Versed induced dreamland...my favorite kind...



**Alex and Ani did not compensate me for commenting on their bracelets.  All opinions are my own.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

My quest to be great at all the things...

I'm a mom, wife, student, friend.  Basically in that order.  Most days.  Some days I'm a student, student, student, student.  Do I feel bad?  Sometimes, but not all the time.

I am in nursing school.  I know it is supposed to be difficult, I mean do you really want someone to take care of you that has no idea what they are doing?  

I didn't think so.

I've been working on my RN for the past 1 1/2 years now.  I will finish in May.

Going back to school when you are 33 years old is not for the weak.  Hell, I'd say it's even harder to go back when you have a family.  And I'm super lucky since I have the support of my hubby.

So why do I feel so guilty?

Well you see, I'm an overachiever.  I think I can do it all.  I think that in order to be successful I have to be great at all things.  I have to be an awesome mom, superb wife, "A" student, and cool friend.

I've feel as though I only have the "A" student thing down.  

I feel bad for studying all the time.  All day and night.  I go to school before the family is up, and when they get home I'm upstairs in the office studying.

I often get these questions from my 13 year old: 

"Mom, how much longer are you gonna study?"

I have a test tomorrow that is 50 questions, and they are NCLEX style, where all the answers are correct, but I have to pick the best...I'm gonna be here a bit longer.

"Are you gonna cook, or are we on our own tonight?"

No, I have to make sure the patient I take care of tomorrow gets the best care ever.  He has a rare congenital heart defect and he had surgery to repair it today, oh AND his parents abandoned him in the hospital.  

"Did you remember to pick up the granola bars I've been out of for 2 weeks?"

No, I was trying to make sure you had clean underwear and socks to wear to school, I thought you'd like to not go naked, or in dirty clothes.

The other day when he asked me to take him to school on a rare day I'm out of school AND clinical:

"Can you take me to school, it's not like you have anything else to do today"

Yeah, I have absolutely nothing going on, I need to pick up those granola bars you asked me about 2 weeks ago, and guess what?  You've dirtied more underwear and socks.  Oh AND I have another test this week, the same day I have a quiz I've not even begun to study for.  

Do I feel guilty?  

Absolutely.

I love my kid and husband more than words can express in this blog.  They are the reason I try so hard to do it all.  I want them to be proud of me.  I will do anything to make them happy.  

Deep down I believe I was put on this earth to be a nurse.   

I cannot imagine being anything else, no other job in my mind can be more rewarding.  

So yes, I'll keep studying, I'll keep doing it all, because this is my calling.

And if you see me at the hospital and I have dark circles under my eyes, my hair is a mess, and maybe my clothes are wrinkled...

Don't judge me, I've probably been up too long, I forgot to get the clothes out of the dryer as soon as they were done, and got up wayyyyyyy too early to take care of you.

But I promise it'll be the best care you've ever received.  


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

GIVE ME ALL THE ORANGES!!

Do you have a moment that only comes every once in a while where you think...

"It would be amazing I could get my hands on some xyz"

Well that moment for me is oranges.

I'm not even sure why.  I was making juice the other day and an orange went into one, and after I peeled it I helped myself to a few.  OMG!  I couldn't stop eating it.  I had to peel another to put in there.  I had no idea I needed an orange that bad.  

I have a story about oranges actually.  

When I ran my first marathon (MCM) we were at mile 11 and there was a stand with Marines handing out oranges.  I took a few and kept trucking.  Then when I bit into it...it was as though that oranges was like nectar to my lips.  It seriously almost melted on my lips.  Hell, it probably did.  I even made said to my running partners, "That was the best orange in the entire world".  Crazy the thoughts that go through your brain during a marathon.  I mean seriously.  And orange?  Yup.

I'm sure my craving is coming from some sort of Vitamin C deficiency or something, but OMG, they are delicious!!!

So here's to the orange:




 Thank you for being so yummy!

Are you eating your oranges?  Or another food that all of the sudden you cannot live without?

Monday, February 17, 2014

I survived the snow!! And some other stuff...

So I survived yet another snow here in Virginia!  This time it was a little nicer having the hubby here with me in case something happened.  Last time I had to dig us out all by myself!

I'm not sure what is worse, digging a vehicle out of the snow or digging a vehicle's garage so you can drive out.  Garages are big.  Either way we had to shovel on Thursday AND Friday morning since it decided to snow two days in a row.  How exciting.  Now there are just piles and piles of snow everywhere!

I'm sure you've seen plenty of snow pics, but I'm gonna show you mine anyway.  HA!

Before the madness began!
This is what we woke up to!

After a shovel!

This was WITH my back door...open! 
After the Wednesday night snow...before the second one
Our walk to the nearest RedBox
Why you ask we walked to the nearest RedBox?  Well we rented two movies the night before the snowfall.  I wanted to return them the next day to avoid an extra charge.  And I kinda wanted to get out of the house!!  It was a cold walk to the nearest one, which is only about 1/4 mile.  Starbucks was closed.  I was upset!

But you know who LOVED the snow???  My four legged baby Oscar!

Who me?
Today I had my pre-op appointment for my surgery in two weeks.  The doctor seems pretty confident I will get most of my mobility back in my finger.  I'm excited about getting it done.  I will be awake throughout the procedure and he even promised I could look!  He also wants me awake so I can make a fist for him to be sure that he didn't do any damage to my tendons.  I'm thinking I'm gonna ask him to take pics if he can after he opens me up.  How cool would that be?  To see in the inside of my joint capsule...I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.  Maybe I should be a OR nurse?  Hmmm.

I've started running again since the PF seems to be getting better.  I ran a whole 6 miles last week!  I ran 3 today in the snow covered sidewalks.  Running in snow is a beast.  I get nervous about slipping, but I made it just fine.  I'm still biking, and even added rowing back into the mix.  Rowing is proving to be difficult because of my lack of grip on the right hand.  I'm still gonna do it though, I need to row.

You know what's best about running inside when it's 10 degrees out?

SHORTS!!!!!!!
I had to resort to a treadmill run on Thursday!

I'm still juicing it up.  I actually had an in depth conversation with a fellow nursing student last week about being a vegetarian and juicing.  He disagrees with juicing, I don't.  He was quite passionate about it too.  I told him we will just agree to disagree.  People are entitled to their own opinions.  I heard him out, he heard me out, and we are still buddies.  He had an interesting story though, after changing to a vegan diet, he lost 100 lbs about a year ago.  He is still quite obsessed about calories though.  When we were discussing shakes, I told him I use coconut milk and he told me to "watch those calories".  I'm not concerned with calories, I've never been much of a calorie counter, but I do totally understand where he is coming from.  I think it's amazing when people lose that amount of weight.  Diet is way more important than exercise, although you need both to be successful.

So did you get snowed in?

And what do you do when you can't exercise outside AND you can't leave the house?

I'm pretty lucky to have a small gym in our basement, so I usually reluctantly go down there, but I'd much rather be outside!



Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tuesday Tibits!

It is Tuesday...right?

My baby brother had a baby almost 2 weeks ago.  It is weird to think that my baby brother who is 8 years younger than me had a baby.  I knew he'd have a kid one day, but I didn't realize how much I would want to be there until it was all said and done.  I just figured I would just be happy with pics and texts and go on about my day.  It was like that for the other nieces and nephews, but this one was different, this one was MY baby brothers baby.  Kinda like my flesh and blood.  Although nursing school has me busy, I still think about him often, and love the pics they send me all the time.  I feel a little bit closer, even if I can't be there, he kinda makes me feel like I am.

Wanna meet the adorable little fella??  I thought so...





School is going good.  I am exhausted most of the time mentally and physically.  I go to bed around 8:30-9:00 most evenings, sneak in a nap or two, and I don't see my family much.  I know soon (86 days to be exact) it will be over.  Only to start my next degree in the summer.  I have a plan to be finished with my at least my masters by 40, will I make it?  I dunno.

Here is L, she's one of my nursing besties!

It is supposed to snow here like it did in 2009.  I was here in 2009, alone.  My hubby was deployed and I was here for the event of the century.  This morning they said on the news, "we haven't seen this type of snow storm in 5 years"  I thought to myself, dang 5 years?  Already?  I've lived here for 5 years?  I haven't lived anywhere that long since I was a child!  That's awesome!  Hahaha.  In the midst of a possible snow storm, I'm thinking about how long I've lived in Virginia.  Crazy.


Not too scary...right?

I ran yesterday for the first time in weeks!!  I have been battling PF for some time, and I couldn't take it any longer.  I forgot how running makes me do the #2 almost immediately.  I need to be more prepared next time!

My running partner Stephanie is afraid of the cold.  She doesn't like to be cold, so we haven't run together in almost a month.  I think it is because I have extra insulation on my body and she doesn't, so she may be colder than me.  She's an itty bitty thing!!  (Steph, I totally know you're reading this in hopes you'll decide to go with me!!)  I get it, it IS cold, even colder when we try to run, and dark.  But come on!!  I miss you!!!

So that is a brief update.  I'm kinda putting off studying for my OB exam scheduled for Thursday in hopes that is snows a ton and I cannot leave my house for days!

What do you buy at the grocery store before a big storm?

I'm going tomorrow to get spinach (for smoothies) and other fruits and veggies to make juices!!  Target has been out of milk for the past day, but we don't drink milk, so we are good.  And I bought bread a few days ago.  Why is it that people buy milk and bread?  I don't understand!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

What I do on a Saturday morning...



Yup. I'm at the library. Studying. 

What do you do for fun on a Saturday morning because I'm sure it's better than this!!! 

Monday, February 3, 2014

Humble

Yesterday I had my pediatric rotation at the local hospital.  I love peds, it is my passion, I feel in my element when I'm on that floor tending to the sickly kids.  Kids are awesome.  You can be silly, and they love it!!!

Yesterday was a little different for me.  I've dealt mostly with kids that were in a clinic and I've nursed their wounds, gave them shots to keep them healthy, and did a lot of parent teaching.

I've been so excited about working on the peds floor, and even applied to the floor.  I still want to work there one day (I was totally turned down on my first application to the floor).

Yesterday, while my 18 yr old patient was sleeping, I cared for a four week old baby that had open heart surgery to repair a defect she was born with. The nurse asked me to check on her, and I gladly went in to discover she was whimpering under her blanket, so I did what any nurse would, I picked her up and held her.

I held that little baby in my arms until she fell asleep and went to the computer to find out what exactly was wrong with her.  She has Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect, and she is also addicted to methadone.  And her parents are no where to be found.

She's only four weeks old.

I went back in the room to find her whimpering again, so I fed her, changed her diaper, and rocked her to sleep again.

As I'm rocking this tiny bundle of joy, I'm reminded of the first time I held my son.  I remember him being so much bigger than her, and how he looked at me with the same look she gave me as she dozed off to sleep.  As I lay her down back in her crib, I have to wonder who would leave this baby alone in a hospital.  Not this momma, that's for sure.

I came home from a long 10 hour clinical day and gave my son a huge hug.  I told him how happy I am to have him, and that I will never leave him.  (Poor kid didn't know what to think).

I often take for granted that my kid is healthy, my husband is awesome, and my doggies are happy and healthy.

Even though yesterday was tough on me mentally, I know I'm meant to work with kids in some way for the rest of my life.  I know that all that baby needed was love yesterday.  That is all.  Love.

The Beatles said it best, "All you need is love, love.  Love is all you need"