What A Lazy Day!!

I was soooo productive yesterday. I got all of my reading for Psych and Pharm for next week done yesterday. So, today, I thought I'd knock Phys Assess out early and then have the whole day to start preparing for Psych! So.......um.....yeah, that didn't happen. I tried listening to my girl Ingrid Michaelson, but I kept singing along to her. I tried some Robin Thicke, didn't work either. Lady Gaga didn't help, and neither did my long-time favorite Janet Jackson. So.....I was lazy, but then around 3:00 I got down to business for the most part listening to my Jack Johnson. He always gets me through a jam, I swear!

I finally got a copy of the Med-Surg syllabus, and it honestly doesn't seem that bad. However, I still plan on getting a head start on the reading, because I am NOT failing that class. I also got a couple of interviews lined up for two of my assignments coming up, thanks to my lovely hubby! I am also going to an open AA meeting this weekend to observe about the 12 step program, and become a little more familiar with it. So I feel pretty good, to be honest with you!

Anyway, so I was looking at my stats for my blog. I don't get a long of views, and that's ok. However, I have noticed that my most popular post seems to be from my "My Philosophy of Nursing" post where I was frustrated on how to write a 2 page paper on the subject. I chuckle a little bit when I see those people got to my page because they googled "My Philosophy of Nursing". It makes me wander if they are fellow Harper students, or if this is a common assignment in other programs. But I chuckle because I did the same thing. I was dying for an example to go by. However, I figured it out on my own, and that's why I chose not to post the paper I wrote because I'll be damned if I am giving someone else any kind of advantage that I didn't have! :) And I mean that with love....L....O....V....E!

It hard to believe that last semester I was absolutely terrified that I would get kicked out within the first week, then the first month, or second or third month, or that I'd all the way to end of the semester, and fail by 1 point. I had absolutely NO idea of what to expect, how to prepare, how to organize. But now that the first semester is over, I feel more confident. I still have worlds to learn here, am not perfect at all. But I feel confident in my abilities to learn and absorb the things that my instructors are throwing at me. I am not absolutely terrified of this first Psych test on Tuesday. I just know I need to give it my all to prepare, and know that I truly did my best!

On another note, this bright and charming nursing student managed to bite her tongue today and it is very painful! So my lovely hubby is bring me a milkshake! :) I love him!

I feel so good!

It sooooo hard to wake up this morning, I just wanted nothing but to keep snuggling under the warm covers with Mikey. I was kind of dreading clinical today because its still one big unknown for me. Where will I be? What do I have to do? What will my patient be like? Last semester's clinical, after the first 2 clinicals, I was good to go. So I'm hoping this will be the same this semester. I of course was very worried about doing a one-on-one interview with a patient in the mental health facility. It's definitely completely unknown of what that person's story will be.

I of course got kind of a lovely surprise today because instead of being on one of the units, I was sent over to the Psych Liaison in the Emergency Room at the hospital. This area is dedicated solely to patients coming in to the ER when they are having a mental crisis, and the nurses assess the patients to understand the situation, and to determine if the patient needs to be admitted to the mental health hospital. I got to observe 3 of these patient assessments, and it was pretty surprising. It definitely gave me a new outlook on patients suffering with mental illness. It's not always obvious by how the patient looks or how they talk or behave.

I was so happy to not be overwhelmingly exhausted after clinical today, so I actually went to school to print my notes for class this week, and work on my clinical journal and evaluation. I got some Starbucks as a treat, and even got dinner in the oven!

I am feeling wonderful, I truly am. I really do believe letting go of the things that were upsetting me has helped with this tremendously. But, it was just a really good day, and I am happy with being caught up with my school work. I'm not even too horribly upset about having to be in school from 8 to 7 tomorrow, lol.

So, I just have to decide how much studying I want to do tonight, I have a few pages to finish up for Pharm, and I need to get my notes organized into their appropriate folders, but other than that, I am done for the evening! Woohoo!!

I was shot!

With vaccines, of course! :)

I went today to get a Flu shot and an updated Tetanus shot because they not come bundled with the whooping cough vaccine. I didn't really want to get the Flu shot, because I never get the flu, and the last time I got one, my arm hurt for a really long time after getting it. But, I have my psych clinicals at NCH, and they now require us nursing students to have flu shots or we have to wear masks before we can go into any patient's room. So, I figured I might as well get it and now have to deal with that hassle.

Today is the last day before 2nd semester officially begins. I have most of the first week's reading done, I got night professional looking clothes for my psych rotation, and I am reading to go! Oh, and also got a lovely surprise that one of our classes, Physical Assessment, doesn't start until next week!! So tomorrow won't be a super long day like I thought it was going to be. I just need to read one more chapter for Pharm, and then get my lecture notes ready for tomorrow.

I can say that I feel rested and refreshed after my month off from class. I know that the stress will seep back in, but for now, I am enjoying being able to study without feeling horribly stresse out, and actually feeling optimistic about my classes, lol.

So, that's all for now I guess. I am sad that break is over, because I have really enjoyed all the time I have gotten to spend with Mike to make up for the lack of it during last semester. But luckily his class is starting tomorrow, too, so its not completely my fault! :)

Break is Over!

I took today off of work because I wasn't feeling so hot, and it just so happened we got dumped on with a bunch of snow today. I was sad because I missed a fun night with my study-buddies last night, but I'm not gonna pass anything on to anybody else if I can help it. The boys in this house have been sick this week, so I guess it was just inevitable that I would catch a snippet of it.

So, with that said, today is the perfect day to get started on some reading. I made productive use of my time last night since no fun was to be had, and I sorted out my syllabus's onto my Google Calendar (which I love so far, but I am not the most faithful calendar lover...so we'll see when something new and exciting catches my eye!) and made lists of the reading I need to do to prepare for each quiz or test. I don't have all of my syllabi's yet, so as soon as I do, I will organize those into workable formats, too.

I just really want to stay on top of everything this semester, and not have to spend anymore time getting "organized" as the semester progresses....because it is so time consuming. I just need to feel like I can seamlessly move from one class to the next without a huge bulky notebook. I am thinking about having one big notebook, and then having thin folder/tiny notebook for each week or for each test. I just need to cut down on the bulk that I carry to school each day.

My Med Surg book should be delivered today,and my Physical assessment book should be delivered in a couple of days. I guess there is a computer program that we have to buy that wasn't in the bookstore, so whenever there is more info on that, I'll have to buy that I guess. The amount of organization and information that we HAVEN'T received is troubling to me. I believe we can't really be successful if we aren't given the information and materials we need to be successful. Luckily, I am not in Med Surg until the 2nd 8 weeks, so I am ok....but my fellow classmates who are in it the first 8 weeks have only gotten the reading schedule for the first few weeks....I am angry for them. That is supposed to be the really difficult class this semester for us, and a week only remains until class is in effect....I would be freaking out to not even have the syllabus yet.

They mentioned this computer program in this letter they sent out, but didn't tell the students where to go to purchase it, and its not on the book list in the bookstore for our class, yet they are supposed to have this done BEFORE the semester starts? People have jobs and lil ones, they need more notice than what they have been given, at least in my opinion.

Ok, I'm off of my soap box. I need to get my butt in gear and start putting a dent in my reading!

2nd Semester Books

Waking up to snow AND new school books?? Wasn't expecting either, I knew the books were on their way, but UPS is never here this early! I got my psych and pharm books, and study guides for everything else today. The study guide for med surg makes me want to cry, because its huge! I thought they messed up and sent the actual med surg book early! But no, they didn't mess up, its huge. I need to find a way to sew two backpacks together so I can carry all of this stuff.

I am very happy with the amount of money I saved this semester. Last semester, I was so excited for books that I just bought them at whatever price the school bookstore was selling them for, I knew I could have been patient and found them online for cheaper, but I'm not usually patient when it comes to things I'm super excited about. But when I saw the price for our Med Surg book on the site of the company that our school buy their books from, I wanted to puke. $350 for ONE book, and Harper would have probably marked it up a lil bit higher. I actually managed to get all of my books except for one for around $400. So, I am happy to have saved so much!

They don't even have all of our books in yet. School starts on the 18th, and nursing students usually have to start reading before hand, especially this semester. But then again, our instructors haven't even posted our courses on blackboard, so we would have no idea on what to start reading anyway! Nevermind. I forget that I am always way ahead of myself.

I am enjoying my free time, but I also kind of want to be getting back into gear for school. Such a torn soul, lol.

Not a New Year's Resolution....

I'm not calling it that. I think that it will just doom the whole thing to failure. I'm setting a small goal for myself. Nothing more, nothing less. I think I will push myself to lose 20 lbs. I'm not setting a time limit right now, but roughly 2 months I think I can do it, maybe 3 if I get lazy. I'm trying to look at this from a nursing diagnosis point of view. "Client will lose 20 lbs. in 3 months as evidenced by a smaller jean size." I can look at my actions and ask myself if they will help me reach my goal. Such as "Does this double chocolate cupcake get me to my goal, or hinder me from my goal?" I don't see myself saying no to every temptation, but I think limiting how often I give in will help.

I am thinking about the gym with da hubs, but I'm not committing to that just yet. I also want to give myself a long term goal/treat. A really cute shirt or dress (that is several sizes smaller) that I can admire and look at when I am getting lazy. Once I can fit into that shirt or dress, I can say I have really accomplished something. The hard part has been actually finding a shirt cute enough to be given this honor!

Anyway, today was a fun day! Mike, my in-laws, and I went to see The Wizard of Oz at the Apollo theatre in Lincoln Park today. We got tickets from my family as a Christmas gift. Got all the way out there to realize it was a child's play, but it turned out to be really cute and funny. We had a yummy lunch at R.J. Grunts, and then play Just Dance 2 for a couple of hours. It was a pretty good day. Now I just have to get ready for bed because hubby-poo is tired and tomorrow is his first day of 4a.m. wake up time to go exercise!

Happy New Year!!

2010 is gone, and 2011 is here! And of course, as I am sitting here chomping away on some yummy puppy chow I made while my poor husband is trying to concentrate on his book, I am contemplating my potential New Year's resolution of trying to lose weight. I think my stomach is trying to convince me it can't be done. Why else would I do nothing but stuff my face as I watch The Biggest Loser?

I have tons of reasons why I would want to lose weight like I'll feel better, I'll look better, I'll be able to buy cuter clothes, and maybe prevent the mile-long list of diseases I could get as a result of my weight. What usually holds me back is I get out of my routine for exercise and I get tired of the restricted diet. I'm a horribly picky eater already, so add diet in there, and there are 5 things I'll deem acceptable that I can have, and then I get sick of those 5 things and then I'm screwed and pick up a milkshake.

I liked Weight Watchers because I could still eat the things I wanted, but sometimes the points could be confusing....like figuring up points for something you made yourself, or a restaurant that has no nutritional value. Then because you were off track one day, its way too easy to stay off track the next, and so on. Plus, its $40 a month if you go there to weigh in and for the meetings. It's only 18 dollars for the online tools to help you keep track of your points, but then you don't have those weekly weigh-ins at the meeting to keep you honest.

However, I found even on my bad weeks points-wise, as long as I was working out, I still lost weight. So, I almost feel like I need to focus on the working out part. If I can do my part on the working out, the rest comes along with it. Sure, I can stop my growing pepsi addiction, and only get the tall-size white mocha's, or maybe even cause trouble and order a short-size. And just try to eat less of the bad stuff, drink more water,and work out.

Then, there is the reality to consider. I will get fed up one week, or feel too busy with school, or get sick, or a really good episode of Grey's will come on....then I stop. I feel good after I work out, I am usually never regretful about having done it. I just wish the weight would come off faster, I wish I would start to see results faster. It's hard when you feel like you are working so hard, and aren't getting anywhere close to where you want to be. So, that's when the doubt starts to kick in, and I start to feel sorry for myself, and I have the best excuse of "Well....I am in Nursing school", and there we go, I end up not working out for months.

Luckily, my husband has bet $50 of our money that he can lose the most weight of his work buddies, so he is determined to win, and I'm determined to make sure we at least keep our $50, so maybe this will help me get up in the morning to work out.

But then, I want to do this for myself, and myself only, and not feel like his working out is dependent on my working out. I usually end up getting irritated if he decides not to go to the gym on the same day I decided to not go to the gym.

So, if you haven't already noticed, weight loss and exercise is one big cluster-fuck of confusion. So, I'm very reluctant to made a firm and public commitment here. I just need to find something that will motivate me and keep me on track. So, I figure as long as I wait til after the 1st week of January is over, I don't have to count myself as a NY's resolution drop-out, right?!