Almost Done

Today was my last day of clinical for my leadership class. Tomorrow will be my last day of the class and then I get a 4 day weekend before starting my senior practicum. I'm amazed at how fast time flew by. Where is this semester going?! Life seems to be simple and hectic at the same time - like everything is falling into place, but there is still a lot that I need to do. It's kind of a weird feeling, but I guess transitions usually are.

I have heard back about my clinical site in Corvallis and I am so jazzed about it. I will be most definitely be working night shifts, which is okay by me. It will get me ready for what I'll be working after graduation. The people I have come in contact with in the hospital and on the unit are very positive and it gets me even more excited about the possibility of working there for real. I haven't applied to work anywhere else yet, and I know I need to, but there is this optimistic voice inside my head telling me I won't need to because I'll get a job offer from Corvallis. I really really want that to be true. :)

This Rocks!

Exercising has never been so fun! Wii Fit is awesome! I did at least an hour of yoga, strength training, balance/posture workout and a little bit of an aerobic workout today. And all of it was through games and fun tasks. Some of the tasks are difficult, but overall it's really fun. Especially when you get a score and it can be competative. I love beating my brother in stuff. :) We did spend some time bowling as a family, and I've found that I'm not as good as I thought. I am still better at Wii bowling than I am at real life bowling, but um yeah.

But this isn't going to replace all my exercise. I still went out and ran about 7 miles today. I like to go out to trails and logging roads to do my runs. It's beautiful and a little easier on my legs/joints than asphalt bike paths. It also allows me to take the dogs with me and let them run off leash and not have to worry about scaring other people or pick up after them. They keep me smiling. Chandler loves to go bounding through the woods and Mac is so loyal that he won't go very far before turning around to "check in" with me. Both are very well behaved and make me feel safe (or safer) when I am running by myself. It's just good.

Dawn of a New Era

I thought this day would never happen. When I was growing up, my sister and I were raised without any sort of gaming system. No nintendo. No gameboy. No playstation. We would go through periods of asking for a system, but the parentals would always say no. We weren't even allowed to spend our own money to buy one. But now I'm glad that I'm not skilled on how to play whatever game, because I have better memories of spending time outside and playing with friends. But as an older child watching her younger brother grow up, I feel like I have to be a little vocal about what he gets (and gets away with). He got to buy an X-box 360 last year. Yes, there was a contract he had with my parents and the money he paid for the gaming system with had to come from the work he did, but he still got to buy one. (I actually don't have much of a problem with it. I've gotten over it.)

But today the situation has changed again. After hearing some really good things about the Wii Fit, my mom decided that a Wii wasn't such a bad idea. So my mom and my brother went out and got a Wii, the Wii fit game and all that it entails! I never thought I'd see the day when my mom (or dad) would spend money on a gaming system. Never ever. But that day has come. But you won't hear me complaining about this one because I will get to use it. And I rock at the bowling!

Break

I have nothing to post because my spring break has been pretty relaxed, but I feel guilty not posting anything. I've been doing stuff like going to my brother's baseball games, hanging out with friends and watching movies. I got to spend a day with my grandma, aunt and mom in Eugene dress shopping. That was pretty cool. But other than that - not much. But you have no idea how much I like "not much". It's very nice. Relaxed. Not stressed. Joyous.

I also just realized this will be my last official spring break. Unless I take time off work, I will not have another spring break built into my life. Wow. Crazy thought. But I'd much prefer what's coming than more school. Good trade off if you ask me. :)

Okay...I'm going to stop typing just to type something and go do some more spring breaking.

Interview

In a couple of weeks I will get to start my senior practicum in Corvallis, so today I went to tour the hospital and meet the manager on the unit I will be working on. This is also the unit I am applying to work on after I graduate, so this was a pretty darn important meeting. The manager of the unit is usually involved in the hiring of new people so this was my first chance to shine. I didn't think there were going to be very many questions regarding wanting to have a job, rather more questions about my clinical experience, but it turned into to a mini interview. It was exciting! I hadn't really prepared to go into a job interview, but I think I answered the questions really well. I tend to analyze everything afterward, so I'm more nervous now than I was when I was talking to the manager, but I'm still more jazzed than anything else. The guy that was showing me around the hospital kept introducing me to different people and shared that I wanted to work there after graduation and he was very positive about me working in Corvallis. It makes me feel even more optimistic about my chances of getting a job offer. I should start working on the unit before I go in for an official interview. Ahh! The reality of what my life is going to be like after graduation is setting in, and it's so awesome!

In my meeting with the manager, I found out that I'll probably be working nights. This doesn't bother me because I've worked nights before, and this is also what I plan to be working after graduation (it's the shift they start the new nurses on). But I would have worked any shift in order to just get some time on this unit. And my manager also mentioned that her most experienced nurses work night shift so I'll be learning a lot too.

Have I mentioned how excited I am? Cause it's true.

Tidbits

On the tram ride home today, I happened to look down and saw a question. In huge white letters (visible to those passing in the tram) was the word "Prom?". It made me smile. I hope the girl said yes.

I finished one of my projects at my clinical site. I have a finished product, and something tangible to look at to show that I've actually done something with my time.

I am thankful that I can enjoy food. One of the women I work with at my clinical site is going through chemo right now and her taste buds are shot. She can smell some food, but almost everything has no taste. She'll have cravings for food but even if she's eating what she's craving it tastes like paste. Eating is no longer an enjoyable experience for her; just another thing to get through.

Tomorrow, after clinical and my afternoon class is over, I start my spring break! My first stop will be to see Lani, Mark and the kiddoes. I'm very excited to see them and their new house.

I am 75 days away from graduating. I just looked at my planner and was looking at the wrong week for a second. It said I only had 68 days left and I got super excited, until I realized that wasn't possible because I only had 77 days left on Sunday. But 75 days is still exciting!

The Saddest Face

Every weekend when I go home, my mom usually lets the dog out to come greet me at the car. Mac is always so excited and makes sure I get a chance to scratch his tummy. For the rest of the weekend he is my shadow. Even if I'm just going upstairs for a quick second, he will get up follow me, lay down for the few seconds for me to complete whatever task I'm doing, and then get up again and follow me to the next activity. He's pretty funny. And I love him.

The last couple of weekends, I've been going walking with my sister and her dog. We go to trails where it is okay to have both dogs off leash and they run around and have a good time. We don't usually let Mac outside by himself at home because he's taken off a couple of times. But when we are out walking, he'll take off after Chandler but will come back to us every couple of minutes to check in and make sure we're still around. It's kinda funny. But it's one of the reasons I love him. Technically he is not my dog, but until I get my own puppy, I consider him my own.

Anyway...on to the title of this blog. Every weekend when I leave, he follows me to the door. I give him a quick scratch behind the ears and say good bye. He always looks so sad when I shut the door behind me and don't invite him to come along. I wish I could just bring him up to school with me. But my room is small and there is not enough outside space for him to run around and play. So we'll just have to settle for a couple of more weeks of separation. :)

Cell phone woes

The state of my phone is not awesome. It has been dropped probably 20 too many times and recently it has been crapping out on me. Things like dropping calls repeatedly and in succession. This one time I had to call back a friend of mine 5 times because the phone kept experiencing "network failure" every 3 minutes. And this last week, it would randomly just shut off, usually when I was texting or in the middle of a phone call. Having a reliable phone is important to me, so I decided to go into the cell phone store today and see if it was time for an upgrade.

It was!! I am now the proud owner of an LG Shine. It's a dark pink color that looks red in the right light, and as the name suggests, it's very shiny! And very pretty. I'm going to have to give it a name.Suggestions?

I'm also excited about all it's cool features. I've spent my afternoon programing certain people to have certain ringtones. I also have the ability to take your picture and have appear if you call me. (So if I come up to you with my phone and ask to take your picture...that's why.)

Attitude changes everything...

I had fun at clinical this week. Maybe it was that I had something to do or it could have been that I decided to be positive about this experience. It was probably a combination of both, but bottomline is that I enjoyed myself. I felt like I was contributing to the team and they took the projects I've been working on and applied the changes I recommended. That was exciting. And the 12 hours I was supposed to be there flew by. What a change from last week. I still wouldn't want to do this all the time but I can handle it for the next couple of weeks.

Also accomplished at OHSU today, I figured out how to get to all the buildings without going outside. From the Kohler pavillion to the South hospital to the Sam Jackson plaza to the North Hospital. If you've ever spent any time at OHSU you should know what a feat that it is. For example: the main (ground) floor in the South Hospital is the 9th floor, and going across the sky bridge to the Sam Jackson Plaza you come out on the 4th floor.

I got pretty lucky on my way to clinical this morning. I take the streetcar to my clinical because parking at the hospital is ridiculous ($18/day). Right after I got off at my stop to take the tram up the hill I hear the the streetcar lost power and was out of service. I was pretty jazzed that I wasn't going to be late or stranded on the track somewhere. It made me think that "timing is everything!"

Graduation Apparel

Okay...away from all that serious stuff, and on to more happy things.

I didn't have to pay for a cap and gown! In high school, I was required to buy a black cap and gown. Being a high school student with no income, my parents forked over the money to buy it (thanks!). Standing in line today to pay my $65 for a cap, gown, stole and tassel I saw other people coming away with black caps and black gowns. For some reason I thought the caps and gowns for required for Linfield graduation were going to be red or purple (our school colors), but they are black! I can re-use my high school one. So I ended up only paying $25.90 for my stole and tassel. Yay for saving money and sticking it to the man!

One thing I'm a little bit miffed on is how they chose the color orange to signify I'm a nursing graduate. How awesome am I going to clash with a black gown, red stole with purple embroidery, a black cap and an orange tassel? Yeah...awesome.

Did you know...

I have a paper due this week and one of the things I've been assigned to write about is the cost of health care. Some of the facts are mind-blowing so I thought I'd share.

Did you know...

• In 1999, Americans spent $1.2 trillion for health care (approximately 13% of the gross domestic product).
• This is approximately $4368 per person in the USA, surpassing other western nations per capita expenditures by 50%.
• By 2013, health care spending is going to be an estimated 18% of the gross domestic product.
• Even with the amount we spend on health care, the United States infant mortality rate is the highest of all industrialized nations, and our average life expectancy is lower than most developed countries.
• With the exception of South Africa, the United States is the only industrialized nation where health care is a privilege rather than a right.

Crazy, huh? Can anyone say "reform"?

Letters

Dear Weather,

Please make up your mind. Trying to decide what to wear based on the weather is not very easy when it is sunny on one side of town and snowing on the other. Seriously. I would prefer you decided to be sunny, because it's March and I want it to be spring. The daffodils won't know it's spring if you keep dumping snow on them.

Thanks,

A girl who would love to be skipping around in the sun

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Dear whoever decided to make graduation so expensive,

I'm not your biggest fan. I've already spent thousands of dollars just to go to school and get an education. Why should I have to pay more to get out of school? That seems like a pretty sketchy deal to me. But I want to be done so I'll succumb to your plan or whatever and buy a cap and gown, and stole, and nursing pin, and graduation announcements. But I'm not buying a class ring! And you can't make me. So there!

Sincerely,

A college student with 84 days to go.

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Dear Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies,

I love you. That's all.

Love,

Someone that hasn't had chocolate in a while

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Dear World Baseball Classic,

I really like you. Really really. Don't let David Letterman's jokes get you down. You're pretty cool. Even though some of your rules are a bit different, and you aren't that popular yet, you are still baseball which makes you awesome. People will catch on - don't worry.

Love,

A fan of baseball no matter what time of year

Oh, I almost forgot!

I forgot to mention in my last post that I found out at the career fair yesterday that Good Samaritan is not in a hiring freeze like I thought they were! Huge stress reliever! It's so much easier to get hired when there are jobs available.

Resumes and Cover Letters

That's pretty much my life this weekend. I met with people from Samaritan Health Services yesterday during a career fair at the school and I'm now a little bit more nervous about the whole post-graduation thing. But I think it's an excited nervous. I won't just get a job offer because I'm doing my clinical at Good Sam, I get to fill out an application just like everyone else. But I've been told I have a really good chance and I'm pretty much guaranteed a job (albeit it is not coming from hospital people - it is coming from my professors).

I'm pretty much finished with my resume. Just little bits of touching up and polishing to do. The cover letter is another story. It was explained as a letter where you get to brag about yourself among explaining why you would be a good match for the organization. I'm okay with the explanation part but I'm not very good at the bragging part. So that's taking a little bit longer.

I did manage to go see a movie this afternoon with Carina and Stephanie. We went to the Baghdad so that we could have McMenamin's food while watching and their movies are cheap. We watched Marley and Me, which overall is a very good movie. I think I want to own it. However, if you have ever been a dog owner or you love dogs, you're gonna cry. Just be prepared. I was told this, but I rarely ever cry at movies - especially at movie theaters, so I didn't think it would apply to me and I ended up with tears streaming down my cheeks in a couple of parts. But really good movie.

Okay...back to the cover letter. My application isn't due until the 31st of this month so I have some time, but I would much rather get it done. If you want to, you can be praying for the right words to be written and for peace over the whole situation. Thanks!

The one where I feel like a complete idiot

My car used to have this awesome feature. I never had to remember to turn off my lights because they would turn off automatically by opening the driver side door. This awesome feature is no longer working. Have I adapted and remembered to turn off my lights? Nope.

This problem has just recently started, and the first time that I left my lights on I was at home (at my parents house) and I could put a battery charger on it for no cost. It has happened before that my lights would occasionally just not turn off so I figured it was one of those times and thought nothing more of it.

Yesterday, I took the car out and when I got back I didn't notice that my lights didn't turn off. Again, I'm not in the habit of checking. And who notices lights being on in the middle of the afternoon. I went happily on my way back to my room to get some stuff done.

Fast forward to last night at 10:00 when it was time to give Carina a ride home. I unlocked my door and pushed the automatic unlock button so that Carina's door would also unlock but it didn't. I immediately knew what was going on. There was a slight buzzing noise that was coming from the lights trying to be on and when I put my keys in the ignition and tried to turn it over there was no response. I saw one of my friends crossing the street and I yelled to her, asking her if she could give me a jump. She came over and I hooked everything up, but no luck. Her car could give me a little bit of juice but not enough to start my car. I went inside to call a tow truck. Philip from Sam's towing answered the phone and although not sounding super excited to come, told me he could be here in 20 minutes.

Philip arrives, I explain my problem - feeling really stupid for having to say that I left my lights on, to which his response was "shame on you." I expect him to get jumper cables out of his huge truck and hook them up, but he pulls this little box out of the cab instead. It's about the size of a heart defibrillator and I'm thinking to myself, "there is no way that little thing will be able to jump my car." But being the dorky person who left her lights on, I wasn't going to say anything. Anyway, he goes about hooking it up, I get in my car to start it and it works!! Hallelujah!

Philip finishes up the paperwork and I pay the $57.50 and we go merrily on our way. Philip was a really nice guy and I'm thinking about writing a letter of thanks to Sam's Towing.

And now I have a monetary reminder to turn off my lights.

Youtube Discovery

I found this on Youtube this morning and it made me laugh. I find points 5, 7, 11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 25 particularly relevant. Enjoy!

3 Monkeys

I woke up at a reasonable hour this morning and had a lot of spare time on my hands. I decided I needed to get off campus, so I walked up and down 23rd street to do some window shopping. I stopped in to one of the funkier stores called 3 Monkeys. It is probably one of my favorite shops. It has some very cool clothing and awesome accessories. The last couple of times I've gone in these old-fashioned-style metal cigarette cases with different designs etched into them have caught my eye. Today, I decided to get one. Not because I need someplace to put my cigarettes (I don't smoke), but because it is the perfect size for my drivers license and bank/credit cards. They've always just sat in the back of my check register, kind of unorganized and always at risk of falling out and getting lost. Now I have a cool place to put them!

I went to a couple of other places, but being unwilling to pay $79 for a shirt, no matter how cute it was, I didn't buy anything else. If I'm ever ridiculously rich someday, I'll know where to come to shop - although, I don't know if I could bring myself, even then to buy a shirt for that much.

It has been a pretty good day. And I've Carina coming over tonight to watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. And I'm going to make brownies because brownies go really well with those shows.

It's Finally Wednesday!

I think I'm pretty spoiled. I don't know how I can complain about my sucky class when I have the best schedule ever. No seriously - I dread Monday through Wednesday. And I don't know how I ever did the 5 day work week thing because this 3 days on, 4 days off thing is so working for me. Right now feels like Friday afternoon, except that I'm going to have 4 days of weekend. That is so nice to think about. (and only slightly tainted by the fact that I have to go to the most boring/pointless class ever on Monday.)

But really, the fact that I get to sleep in tomorrow is what got me up out of bed at 5 this morning. No joke.

(That and the fact there are only 88 days until graduation.)

Anyhoodle. I'm pretty darn ready for spring to get here. The weather in Portland this week has been typical of Oregon - pouring down rain. But we had sun breaks too! And when I was home last weekend (and the one before that) I noticed the crocuses were blooming in the front yard. That's always my first sign that spring is almost here. It won't be official until the daffodils arrive (the serious sign of spring, in my opinion). But it's right around the corner! And that means more time outside, cute spring-y shoes, and BASEBALL SEASON WILL START!! Ah, I love spring! :)