into the light

I'm FINALLY in the home stretch. I can almost smell the Thanksgiving dinner cooking in the oven, I can almost listen to Christmas music again, the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly getting closer and brighter. This is super good, because lately I've been in a bit of a slump. Me and my Texas bones wimped out at the first sign of cold weather and I haven't been on my bike since about the 1st of October (I know, lame). I'm trying to change this- trying to coax myself that once I actually get riding that it won't see so cold (so far no luck though). Other than that it seemed like school worked seemed to implode in 3 week period- it was just one thing after another after another. And all I really want to do is go home. But enough of that, onto the good stuff.

I've been on quite a few adventures recently, one including driving 1,000 miles in 2.5 days. I know, pretty remarkable. My roommates and I decided last minute to make a little trip up to Chicago, for almost 3 days. I also celebrated Halloween, college kid style. What exactly is college kid style--good question. haha. Halloween is my least favorite of the holidays, so I just kinda go along with whatever the plans are and roll with it.

I finished my multiple client rotation, and I have to say that from this past year this was probably the rotation I enjoyed the most. I know that's not really fair because I have probably said that about every rotation, but hindsight is 20/20. I've learned that with each new rotation I realize things that I loved and the things I didn't love so much. But this rotation was very different from my others, in that I really felt like the whole family was involved with the care, it was a much more friendly atmosphere. This is somewhat ironic, consider an oncology floor can be one of the most depressing places in the hospital. However, the nurses on this floor did an excellent job of making it a not so scary place. That's what really made the difference, the nurses.

I hope that I will become that kind of nurse one day, that I can make the scary parts of life seem much more bearable.

talk about a Monday..

Yesterday, Monday I had my first Care Management test of the year. No big deal you're thinking to yourself--which is exactly what I thought to myself. Until I woke up at 8:00 in the morning to a call from my professor asking where I was because "the test started at 7:45, and you're supposed to be here." Sweet. So I quickly threw some clothes on, picked up my backpack and literally ran out the front door. I drove to campus, parked in the student lot without a permit and again literally ran into my classroom. I got there by 8:15 (impressive, right?!) and sat down to take my test in the 30 minutes that were remaining. I miraculously managed to finish my test on time, so now all I have to do is wait until next Monday to see if I did okay.

Now how did I let that happen, I mean really- who sleeps through FOUR alarms. Really now? Not only did I sleep through them, I have no recollection of even hearing them or turning them off.

Talk about stress. I mean, that's one way to start off my week. Luckily I don't have class again until Friday (lucky me!) so I have some time to recover from the trauma yesterday.

But enough about that- clinical started last Friday, and I'm in the ICU first. I am pretty excited about this, because I feel like I will get to see more intense things.

I also had my day in the Emergency Department this past Tuesday and let me say this: WAY COOL. Now, I wasn't at a trauma center so I didn't get to see any car accidents or gunshot victims- but I got to see some pretty cool stuff. I basically loved it, every single minute of it. It was kind of bipolar- in the way that it was either empty, with nothing to do or extremely busy, jumping from patient to patient trying to get everything done. You have to be a very quick thinker, because each patient that comes in is completely different. PRETTY AWESOME, if I do say so.

Oh- also in some free time last week I decided I would get a fish. So here's Stan. I know it's not the best picture, but it's okay. He lives with a peace lilly, which is why there are roots in the picture. I'll let you know how it turns out. So far, so good!