Monday, March 9, 2009

indications for retail therapy

I should really be studying for Wednesday's pharm final, but it's been a few days since I've posted so here I sit typing away to my heart's desire. This past weekend was spent studying and it was fruitful to say the least.

Let me back up for a bit though. Last year I had to take basically a full year of math. First it was Introductory Algebra, since I placed that low on the university (where I recently graduated with my B.S. in psyc) placement exam. It wasn't good enough that I had taken remedial-get-your-high-school-equivalency-credit when I first returned to college in 1999. Nope, not for this brain--too much time had passed. Then after Intro I had to take Intermediate Algebra. I actually went back to the U after finishing Intro and attempted the placement exam again in hopes of placing into College Algebra. WRONG! I had yet another grueling semester of algebra to look forward to, fortunately I had one of the best professors ever. Mary D was one of the most positive and inspiring people I've ever learned from...ever. Mind you, since we've been back to the states, up until I started my nursing classes, so from 2005 until 2008 (in finishing my psych degree) all my classes were online and a deadbeat Prof can make or break a class! Finally last spring I was able to take College Algebra, which I finished with an A, and in the summer I took Statistics for Psych (that Prof left a lot to be desired in a prof), but I believe I came away with an A or a B in that class so what the heck, who gives.

Anyway. What's with all the mathematical babble? I obviously somewhere in all those semesters of algebra learned about ratio and proportion. For the life of me I could not figure it out the other day when one of my classmates tried showing me how to do it in relation to a heparin drip problem. I basically (iffy, to say the least) got it. I sat down with my textbook, which was no help. It just further confused me. I have the book, Math for Nurses and found my lightbulb moment contained within. Seriously. It's as if the lights all over the country went out...and came back on all at once. Originally our professor had shown us a different formula for heparin drips, that was just little bit more labor intensive, and well once my classmate had pointed out the ole ratio:prop method, I had to give it, and him, well...props! Now that I am hip to the whole scheme of things, I'm cool!

Friday, we didn't do anything over-the-top for LB's birthday, even if it was his 16th. All he wanted to do was go skating. This was much to my displeasure even if it was the much less expensive option in comparison to what we (I) had originally planned, which was taking him and some of his friends out to dinner, restaurant of his choice, of course. Whatever. I will give him tons of credit for what did happen in the later part of the night. He and his one friend made an extremely wise choice. He intended on having three friends stay over, only two ended up staying through the whole night. To make a long story short, and what's turning out to be a novel, even shorter, two of the boys decided to sneak out with a fifth boy who had come to pick them up, unlicensed, in his own parents' car. They were out past curfew and got busted. One of the two who snuck out, and also lives across the street ended up at home, the other ended up back in our house. Kudos to my son and the other kid who chose to stay behind. Good on them!

Saturday was the first varsity "game", in all actuality it was a scrimmage. Our team lost. LB played the last two innings. He's the only sophomore, so it's what we expected. We hope for him to play more as the season goes on. One of his previous coaches gave him a glowing compliment on how he has improved over the time this coach has known him. Tomorrow I will take a short break from the studying as we have "Meet the Coaches" night for all the spring sports at the high school. We'll get to meet all the coaches that are working with LB. We've only really met one of them. We'll also do all the parenty (yes, I meant "parenty") kind of stuff like assign meals and such, whatever that means.

It's also a big day tomorrow because it's our orientation for our clinical placement at the long term care facility. I'll be ironing my uniform tonight (sorry, you can take the girl out of the military, but not the military out of the girl-besides it's that stiff-ass white scrub material crap). I have my notebook, 4x6 cards to write up my drug cards, because we have to write them-grr- and all my other little supplies, not that we really need anything tomorrow other than our notebook and pen, oh and our badge. I'm the nerd who's had her's in her purse since, oh, about day 15, first semester.

Wednesday's the big Pharm test...might've mentioned that a time or a hundred...and ten.

Thursday I am partaking in some much needed retail therapy. I want some new shoes of the sandal variety, and some new tops, and maybe some new capris also. Oh, and maybe a new purse too! Besides school I've been putting up with a lot as far as dealing with living in a house full of b-o-y-s-es, and I deserve some mommy/girl time!!!