May 31, 2002
There is an inordinate amount of blogs in languages I cannot even begin to figure out at this time of the morning under the "fresh blogs" section on the blogger homepage. It freaks me out. It must be the middle of the day or something wherever they are and they all decide to write right now. Instead of a siesta, the take a blog break and they all write. And sometimes I will see a title that cathces my eye and click on it, only to find that their title is the only thing in English and the rest of their blog is written in a foreign tongue. They are all busy writing early in my morning.
I finished The Hobbit yesterday. I enjoyed it once I got into it, and thought it was a good story and very clever. I kind of wish I had read it as a kid. I don't know why I didn't. I have always liked to read and my mom loved The Hobbit. I don't know why she never told me to read it. It probably would have scared me if I had read it when I was younger. I was a scaredy cat. I was scared reading Nancy Drew books. I still am a scaredy cat at times. But I can handle Nancy Drew these days.
May 30, 2002
So I am going to work tonight instead of tomorrow night. My supervisor called and asked me if I would switch. How could I say no? I have no plans for tonight. But I was looking forward to not having plans. To spending some time alone and with my sweet sweet husband. But they need me tonight. And if I had said no, I would have felt guilty all day and all night and so I am going to go to work.
Our fish Steve died today. We found him this morning at the bottom of his bowl. Poor little guy. I don't know what happened. He was well fed and frequently had his bowl cleaned. We will miss the little fellow. He didn't even make it a year.
Well, I suppose I should go get ready for work. I have to be there at 5:00 for a staff meeting. That means an hour of double time! Maybe it is worth it. At least I get to work with my dear friend Carol tonight. And the French Canadian couple. It shouldn't be too bad. Just pray the patient's sleep.
May 29, 2002
Today is blazing hot. Blazing. And I decided to go on a walk. For most of my walk, I kept thinking about all the different things I wanted to drink. Ice cold water, then iced tea. Ooh, and then ice cold lemonade. All we have is water. And it's refrigerator cold. Man, I can't imagine trying to sleep when it's this hot. It didn't seem to get too hot last summer. I can't really remember having a hard time sleeping. But I worked day shift until August, so it's hard to remember what the days were like. I hope the summer is nice to me.
We've lived up here a year now. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Shane has a midterm today in Organizational Behavior and is attempting to include me in his efforts to study. He's so cute! Gary, one of the head guys at UPS, told him he should be in management within two weeks. Wouldn't that be nice.
May 28, 2002
I suppose if things don't work out for me as a nurse, I can go get a job with the circus as a clown. Shane thinks that the scrubs we nurses wear resemble clown costumes. It's kind of funny. I can kind of see where he is coming from. I don't understand how just a few decades ago, nurses were wearing starched white Nurse Ratched uniforms with the little white cap and now we wear these cotton drawstring pants and baggy scrub tops made of crazy prints. I guess I have to agree the uniforms are kind of silly. But they are very comfortable and I have heard that they have done studies and found that the uniforms cause less patient anxiety than the old white ones. Makes sense, I suppose. So, I will always have the circus to fall back on.
May 26, 2002
I graduated from San Diego State one year ago tomorrow. That's crazy. I am so very glad to be out of Nursing School and the commuting and junk. I wonder if I will ever go back to school....
Shane updated our website. There is a picture of our garden on it now. The sweet peas are growing fast. So, I have a garden again. I showed that stupid gardener!
Memorial Day weekend. Census at the hospital is the lowest it has been since I started working there about a year ago. I had two patients last night until about two, when I got my third. Two! That is unheard of! It was oh so sweet. I was pretty much caught up by eight. I usually don't get to sit down till at least ten. It was awesome. So, I had today off and have been a total sleep deprived brat. Poor Shane. I am reading The Hobbit now. Having a hard time getting started in it, with all the little dwarves coming to visit Bilbo, with their little names and the different drinks and treats they want to eat. I am sure I will make it through and enjoy it. How can I not??? It's *The Hobbit*. Even if I didn't like it, I couldn't admit it.
May 25, 2002
Well, I read Cat's Cradle yesterday. I enjoyed it and can see why Shane thinks Vonnegut is so cool. I also had to work last night. It was a very good night and went very well. I worked with three travellers...apparently travel nursing is the way of the future. They are taking over the night shift in all units at French. I am thinking it might be something I should look into after we are done up here. One of the guys was telling me I could virtually work in San Diego, as a traveller, just switching between the hospitals. You can stay at one place sometimes up to a year, then move on to the next job. The travel companies pay a ton more, offer living erxpenses, benefits, and there are opportunities everywhere. Sounds like it might be a good idea. We have two new travellers at work, Marc and Melanie. They are French Canadian and very cool. He speaks several languages, including French, English, Japanese, Spanish, and a few others. He also apparently is a trapeze artist. Melanie is a little younger than I am and is the sweetest thing with her French accent. She works with us on Med-Surg, but also works with the babies. They don't know anyone up here and I mentioned we should all get together. They were very excited at my offer and we all spent time trying to coordintae our schedules. We have to wait until after next week, but it should be fun. They are both so interesting and fun to talk with. Could Shane and I possibly make some new friends??
May 24, 2002
I am pretty computer illiterate, although I am learning. Shane just taught me how to hyperlink stuff. I am growing smarter by the minute.
So, my mom and dad came and went. It was nice to see them, though their visit was short. We kept pretty busy... went out to eat,shopping, to the movies, to the farmer's market.... It's sad everyone we know and love lives so far away.
The coolest thing that we did while they were here is, my mom, the master quilter, taught me to quilt. I made my first quilt. I actually finished it in the two days she was here. I couldn't believe it. I felt so satisfied, having a finished priduct in such a short period of time. And it looks pretty cool and nice, actually. Like, the corners match up and stuff. She took it home with her to San Diego to have it "quilted" for me. Apparently, you have this $10,000 machine to actually quilt the quilt together nicely. I don't have $10,000 (neither does my mom). And I don't think I would be able to get the machine to do it's thing if I did have the money. I was very pleased that I was able to catch on and have something new and cool that I can now do. Exceppt my mom won't be around to help me.... I did get a picture of it before they left.
So, my sweet peas continue to grow. My parents brought me a few more that were already starting to grow and we bought some tomato and bell pepper plants, which my dad planted for me while my mom and I were busy sewing. My dad made up for the reading I didn't do while they were here. He spent most of his time here reading and napping. He isn't a big reader, but he is really into this book. It sounds like it would be really cool and I want to read it at some point. The author's family lived in Southern California back at the turn of the century and it talks a lot about the area I grew up in. I think it would be interesting. The author, Victor Villasenor (tilde over the "n") came to my school when I was a kid. Not that I have read any of his books, but I remember being excited to get out of class to go to the library to hear his story.
May 21, 2002
I have sweet pea sprouts!!!
Shane and I went on a bike ride this morning. It was his idea, to see how long it would take to ride to work in the mornings. It was fun to get out on our bikes that have been much neglected in the past. The only scary part was that we had to cross the railroad tracks. Like, cross them where we weren't supposed to cross them. It takes eight minutes to get to his work from our place.
I had a good night at work on Sunday. My first smooth, uneventful night in quite some time. I worked down on the telemetry unit again (we actually call it the Step Down Unit, or SDU...in between Med-Surg and the ICU). I only had three patients, which awesome, and they did what they are supposed to do at night...sleep. Lucky me. I needed a good night.
I have a few days off now because my mom and dad are coming to visit. Just a short trip, but it will be nice to see them. So, today will be a day of house cleaning, which Shane makes fun of me for. He claims I try to make the house extra clean when we have visitors (which isn't often). But that's not really true. I think I am kind of a clean freak. I get teased about it at work, because when there is down time, I can often be found cleaning. I just like for things to be clean.
I finished Death Comes to the Archbishoplast night. It was alright. My main problem with it was that I bought it at the used book store and it smelled like mildew. Other than that, it was interesting enough. I liked Cather's other two books I have read a little more though, probably because they were about pioneers and families struggling to survive and make their way, which I find intriguing. I am now going to read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. My dearest husband is an avid Vonnegut fan and has quite a collection of his books. I read God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater a few years ago, but that is the only Vonnegut book I have under my belt. So, Cat's Cradle it is.
May 18, 2002
I finally had a Thursday off this last week and was able to make it to the Farmer's Market with a few girls from work. It was fun to get out and walk around downtown. I was so excited to see that there were sweet peas for sale. I bought a bunch and they are smelling up our bedroom. It's a good smell, though. I also bought some strawberries. They are the best tasting strawberries I have ever had....they are all so sweet. It was a nice night off, even though Shane was at school.
I had to work last night. We only had 6 patients on our unit (yikes!). I had to go down and work on the Step Down Unit with the patients on telemetry. I feel so stupid down there because there is so much I don't know. I think it will be good for me to take the EKG class, which I am now signed up for. Then I will have some clue as to what is going on and what to do when one of my patients is "throwing PVC's" or, heaven forbid, in "V-tach!" Anyway, I won't feel so helpless and inadequate when I get a clue.
I am tired. I got off at 6:30 this morning, took a little nap, and have been up ever since. I have to go back tomorrow night. And, we have to wake up and go to church tomorrow!!! We cannot be lazy bums! And then my mom and dad are coming to visit this Tuesday. I am looking forward to seeing them. It's hard living so far away from everyone we know. Gosh, we need to make some friends....
May 15, 2002
I just had the crappiest night at work. It hasn't been that bad in about 6 months. It was just non-stop. No one could be pleased, nothing was working out, and to top it off, I was belittled and treated like crap by one of the doctors. Why do they have to be such jerks???? He was such a jerk. I don't want to talk about it, really, I guess. I felt like I was a crappy nurse last night and that I did a horrible job, despite all the running around I did trying to help all my patients out. Nobody died, so I guess I wasn't too bad. I have two days to get over it and then I am back at it, trying to be super nurse. Those egotistical, punk ass doctors. They aren't the gods they think they are. It pisses me off.
May 12, 2002
I just planted some sweet pea seeds in the back. Sweet peas are my all time favorite flowers. I hope they actually grow. I have attempted to grow them before, but they didn't work out too well. When I lived back in Vista, there was a man who lived off of Monte Vista, I believe, near Buena Creek Road, that had a stand out in front of his house where he was always selling stuff. In the spring, he would always have sweet pea posies out for sale, one bunch for a dollar. I would drive past on my way to and from school and would stop when I had money and buy a few, They smell so sweet and are so beautiful. I am a push over for flowers. So, I am looking forward to having a little patch of sweet peas in the back. We'll see if they make it!
May 9, 2002
I had the day off today. I went to aerobics, slept a little bit, then went "downtown." I went to the bookstore and bought a few books, including Nathan's recommendation Death Comes for the Archbishop, by Willa Cather. I also worked on the last few pages of my photo album. I decided to stop around 1986, when I was nine, because as I entered Middle School, I became more and more awkward and the pictures just aren't cute. It turned out well...I think I was a cute little girl and I filled quite a few pages. I just wish I had people that I could show it to!
Everyone is talking about High School reunions lately. I am so not interested. I don't know. I kind of didn't like High School. Shane claims I was a nerd, but I don't know. I just kind of did my own thing and if it so happened I spent my lunches hanging out with blind girls and social rejects, I think I was just a compassionate, nice person! I can remember feeling weird hanging out with the people I spent many a lunches with, but what could I do? I felt bad for them. But really, there aren't very many people I would want to see. Many of the people I went to High School with just annoyed me and were such jerks that I have no desire to see them ever again. We'll see. I imagine if Shane wanted to go, we would, but I don't know that he cares to much either.
It was Nurse's Day earlier this week and they had a little party for us at work. The cafeteria made us a little Mexican food fiesta. Of course, it was hospital cafeteria food, but hey, what do you expect. It wasn't too bad. They also had a drawing and gave away these baskets they made. I actually won one! I wasn't even there, but one of my friends picked one for me. She picked a good one. It had a cute teddy bear that is dressed up in a velvet coat and hat, and a bunch of other cute stuff. I was just excited to win something!
May 7, 2002
Tuesday afternoon. I have to work tonight. Going back to work the first night is always the hardest. You don't know what to expect, what awaits you. What is the census? Are we going to be staffed adequately? Are all of my patients "oriented x 3" or are they going to start losing it in the middle of the night and begin trying to climb out of bed...or try to slug me. It usually turns out ok, but the anticipation really gets to me.
It's kind of lame. The most interesting things that happen to me usually take place at work and due to "patient confedentiality" I am really not supposed to talk about any of it. I often do relate little stories when I get home to Shane or to my family, for example, when one of my patient's said to me, "you sure are an ugly little thing, aren't you!" Of course, he was a little disoriented...at least I like to think he was. I also have related stories of things that have happened to me at work, such as, when one of the doctors I needed to talk to showed up and told one of the nurses to go into one of the rooms to get me. As I walked around the corner out of the room, he jumped out and scared me half to death. I nearly peed my pants (wouldn't have been a first). Yep, they still laugh about that one. I laugh with them, though. It's nice to work with at least one doctor who is decent. But a lot of the things I would like to talk about, or write about, I really can't. What if the BRN (Board of Registered Nurses) was to get ahold of my blog, with my name emblazoned across it!? So, hear I sit with very little to say. Of course, if I was able to relate my many amazing adventures from my long nights at French Hospital, they may not be all that interesting to anyone but me.
I finished Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood a little bit ago. I enjoyed it. Easy reading with a mother-daughter story that any girl can relate to and friendships every girl longs for. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such close, long time girlfriends. So close, they are like sisters. I don't even know what it is like to have a sister.
I have had to relationships in my life that I can think of where I had a friend that was like a sister. One was in 8th grade, Jennipher Dunn. We met each other in one of our classes, PE, I think. Everyone thought we were twins. We did look alike. We pretended we were cousins, that our mom's were twins. Everyone believed us. We were such good friends. We went camping together, had tea parties, we were so similar and could just be our little girl selves together even thought we were in eighth grade. Everyone else was trying to be so grown up and we would play mermaids in the swimming pool. It was so much fun...we were like sisters. She is also married now, to a professional football player, and a mother. She lives in Florida. We have gone our own ways, but still talk occasionally. When we do, it is like old times as if we never have been apart.
My second friendship was with Amanda Cunagin when I was in eleventh grade. She was in ninth grade at Fallbrook Union High School, but a year younger than me. We were drawn to each other the first time we met. I don't know why. We were and are so different. We met at church and really got to know each other on a week long trip to Mexico with our youth group (the same trip that I really got to know Shane). We are still good friends, living our own lives, and talking occasionally. But there are so many memories and good times that we have shared. There isn't really anyone presently in my life, in close proximity, that is like that to me right now. I guess I am lucky to have had two close girlfriends. And then there is Shane, who will forever be the best friend I have ever had. I wouldn't ever want to be without him. What a lucky girl I am.
May 6, 2002
I haven't written in quite a while. I have been sick the last week. I went to work the first two of my three shifts with my runny nose and stuffy head. At about midnight on Thursday night at work, I started losing my voice. Today is Monday and it is starting to come back. So, I called in sick on Friday. When I woke up Friday at noon, it was completely gone. It was so lame to not be able to talk. And almost every time I tried, my sweet husband made fun of me. It was nice to have the extra day off. I was able to sleep and relax. Shane and I went to the movies on Saturday and saw Spider-man and went out to eat, so I didn't have to cook (probably the nicest part of the day!) I went to the used book store and got a few books. I just finished reading My Antonia by Willa Cather. I did enjoy the story and it also gives the reader insight as to what it was like for immigrants from Europe out on the frontier in the late ninteenth, early twentieth centuries. I am now reading Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, a book I have wanted to read for some time. I also bought another Amy Tan book...I like her books a lot. So, that will probably be next. My parents are coming to visit the end of this month. It will be nice to have visitors. I can't believe it's already May. We will have been here a year the end of this month! Can you believe it?
