gonna party like it's 1989

In 18 days I leave for Colorado Springs, CO for my 20 year high school reunion. I almost wasn't going to go, even though for the past year I've been saying I would. The hesitation stems from guilt over using money for myself that could be used for more family related things. What it came down to is I've never been apart from my guys, never, ever, and I think it's time I take a break.

Big B and I have taken a few mommy/daddy trips. When LB was a baby we left him in NJ for a night or two, with my in-laws. I shit you not I wrote out specific instructions on how to care for him. That's how I handled that separation. Separation anxiety on my part indeed! Or maybe it was a tad OCD mommism!

Aside from that I don't remember much of anything except for date nights here and there, and those have spread further and fewer in between.



He and I did take a trip to the French Riviera for our 10th Annniversary. We were already mostly there, being in Italy, and so we booked a weekend trip with our base recreation center and went off on a bus with about thirty other travelers.

There we are in front of Prince Rainier's Castle.





We toured Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, and Monaco. It was a quick prearranged touristy kind of trip, but we had a great time. The boys were probably 8 and 4.



Here it is after all these years of Big B going off on TDYs (temporary duties), deployments, a remote, and now his busniess trips, not to mention the times he's gone off on daddy weekends or day-trips, I am finally getting my own personal vacation.

Me, myself, I--no kids, no husband, no pets.

Wowzers.

It's a little nerve-wracking to say the least! I'm excited to see some friends and family I haven't seen in ages. I've never met my baby niece, who will be one at the end of August. I haven't seen her older sister, her mother father/my brother in a few years. My aunt and cousins live up in Denver. Then there's all the friends I've reconnected with via Facebook. Many I've kept in touch with sporadically over the years, some more frequent than others. The there are those I haven't seen in 10 + years, at least since the 10th reunion!

1992, in March after I'd come back from being overseas



How fun will that all be!? I fly in Friday afternoon and one of my dearest friends (MB, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding) is picking me up at the Denver airport since she lives in Denver and we're heading down to the Springs to the hotel to freshen up. That evening is an impromptu get together at a popular local bar. It's the ice breaker. Saturday night is the actual reunion at the hotel. MB and I are staying the night at the hotel. It helps that her mom still works there after all these years!

I'm not sure about Sunday, through when I leave late Tuesday morning, or Saturday before the reunion, for that matter. There are plenty of people to keep me busy!

I was going to stay with my brother and his family and if they're still in their house I will. Sadly they are succumbing to the tragedy that is the current economy. My mom says they've done everything they can possibly think of, but the harsh reality is they're going to lose their home of 10+ years. It breaks my heart and I wish there was something I could do, but we can barely afford our own mortgage. All I can do is not be a stressor for them while I am there, and just spend good, quality time with them. If you would, say a little prayer for them. They have two daughters, a 7 year old and one going on 1 year.

So, I also have a friend who just got stationed in the Springs who I could spend some time with. I am looking forward to the trip and the fun it promises.

Did I mention I'm leaving my children, my husband, my pets, my home, my bed? I am flying solo amongst several strangers, away from those I love. One thing's for sure I will have stopped taking Ambien by then as I'm going to need one of those wee lil bottles to tide me over for the plane ride!

bright spot to my day!

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

A big heartfelt thank you to Lorie for giving me this special award!! You really did brighten my dreary, tired day!

Now I get to dole out some love!

Thank you to all who have stood by my side since the beginning or even more recently. Your words of kindness have meant a lot!

my Canadian friend, and a recent nursing school graduate who rocks the ER and is preggers with baby number two! Running Wildly

Wise beyond his years, and kind of like the big brother I never had, Drofen at The First Strike

At Your Cervix, provides tales of her time in L&D, she is working on her midwifery degree

If I had a daughter I'd want her to have the heart and determination that Andrea over at snatc embodies

a fellow student nurse, who, like me has just finished her first year, as Student RN Tiffany puts it, she's "half a nurse"

someone I admire because she has to be one of the most grounded people out there, N is for Nurse

for her candor and humor LivingDeadNurses Psycho Ward

cuz we have some things in common Twelve Weeks at a Time

I can't stop at 8!!

can't forget this truly special lady Life is Full of Blessings

someone else I have tons in common with My Journey from a Student to a Nurse

Ok. I'll stop at 10! I really could keep going though. I've been fortunate to come across some wonderful people here in Blogland who have offered nothing but support. Now it's your turn to show some love!

No, no, no! One more....my friend who is working on her LPN A Journey Through Nursing School...& Beyond

a look at the bright side

I'm trying to stay positive, but it's been tough amidst the funky-funky-doldrums kinda mood I've been in lately. This weekend was a blessing as it kept us busy and left little time to ponder that which makes me unhappy, and alas I really don't have much to be unhappy about anyway.

It has to be the hormones...

Friday we went to see Land of the Lost with friends. It was the other mom, myself and 7 PWP (people with penises). We enjoyed the movie. There was very little I could remember from the TV show days. It was funny nonetheless.

Beware the Sleestaks

Yesterday we headed over to the same friends' house for an afternoon filled with a muddy football game, jousting in the jumpy castle, and a game of basketball. Oh, we can't forget the kids firing off the potato gun. It was a blast. No pun intended. It was so nice to get out of the house and just hang out with a fun group of people.

I should mention I decided to boycott homework all weekend! I'm going to give that a try every weekend. It's for the best.

Today we had the American Legion baseball season opener and it was a double-header. Our guys lost both games. It should be an interesting season. Our team will be one of the smallest. Most teams consist of a good amount of college players, as AL baseball allows Freshman in high school up through I guess the Freshman year of college. We have one college-aged player, and he's not the biggest guy on our team by any means.

Tomorrow I head out to the ENT doctor. Aside from that the week is pretty much uneventful...and I must have just taken a hit off someone's crack pipe! Lest I forget the boys' dental appointments Tuesday, a baseball game Thursday, and then there's Friday.

Not only is Friday our high school's graduation, it is also D-Day. We're not talking Normandy type, we're talking Driving-Day.

LB is legal to drive as of June 12th.

I'm. trying. to. think. positive...

live for experiences

Firefox
What an experience this has been! After praising Firefox I soon ate my words. For the life of me I was unable to post here on Blogger while on Firefox, or even Internet Explorer, yet had no problem saving on Verizon Yahoo. VY is a browser I don't care to use now that I've found Firefox. I've had a lot of problems with VY and now that I know Blackboard works best with Firefox it is my browser of choice. Since I'm taking online classes through Blackboard and spend so much time on it it seemed fitting to stick with Firefox. When I tried posting and would click on the "save" button it would go to dark gray and say "saving" but it wouldn't stop, and it wasn't saving. To fix the problem I had to go in and change the name of the cookie file for Firefox.

A Friend in Need
Back in late January I'd posted about aiding and abetting someone who left their husband. The adulteress is still out West. It's not a match made in Heaven by any means. It seems she and Romeo are having their fair share of difficulties. Whatever. They are not my concern. I do not have time for the drama that festers there.

Big B and I (more so Big B than I) have taken to making sure our Friend is ok from time to time. Last night was one of those times. Big B and I had dropped LB off at the Relay (more on that to follow) and then took advantage of the gift cards Big B had one in a trivia game, to Outback Steakhouse. After returning home Big B called Friend and invited him over for some beer. Friend brought Jim...Jim Beam. We started out inside watching the Nascar race, as they're both fans. Then Friend decided to go out on the patio for a smoke, and we all ended up out there for the remainder of the evening. Big B stuck with his beer, Friend had Jim and Cokes, and I attempted to make a Whiskey Sour substitute. I used the JB, Coke, and Apple Pucker Schnapps we have in our house, the only sour liquor we have. Eh, it wasn't quite the same, but it was drinkable. We lit the fire in our fire pit, AW and his friend came out and made smores, and we all had a fun, relaxing evening.

Relay for Life
Every year our county puts on a Relay for Life event. LB decided to take part and joined one of his friend's teams. They've been working on the arrangements and made team t-shirts, after school. Last night all their work came to fruition for the main event.

I guess neither he, nor I, had said anything about this to Big B. So of course after we'd dropped LB off and sat down at the restaurant he started asking about it. I pulled out my handy dandy Blackberry to look up the event list so he could read it.

While looking at the list I recognized the name of the speaker as someone who I thought may have been a young woman who'd just lost her mother recently to cancer. I wasn't quite sure because the name listed was her full first name, and she usually goes by her initials. I texted LB to find out and sure enough it was her. Wow.

I had to hold back tears because being a very visual person I envisioned her up there speaking amongst the good-sized crowd I knew was in attendance, and how raw her grief still must be, that and the fact that I didn't want to ruin mine and Big B's dinner.

I can't help but feel a slight connection to the girl and her family, although I don't really know them. The time I actually did meet her I probably wont forget because it was so comedic. We were at a mutual friend's house one night for a party. I was in attendance as one of the parent chaperones, if you will. She, another girl, and I ended up in line at the powder room. I know the other girl, since she knows LB. The other girl introduced me to her as this is "LB Studmuffin's (name changed to preserve semi-anonymity) mom". The girl pipes up and says "I'm the eagle!" She happens to be the cheerleader who plays the part of the high school's mascot. She was so cute and endearing when she said it.

The connection I speak of is only felt since reading the girl's mom's obituary. It turns out she'd spent some time in the military and we have that in common, that and being mothers.

I texted and told LB, after he'd confirmed it was the girl I thought it was, that when she gave her speech he needed to listen to her. Somehow I don't think he would have had a choice as I'm sure everyone there would be silent and listening.

Colorful
The experiences of the past few days wouldn't be complete if I didn't tell of the colorful experience AW and I had the other night. Since before we had AW's hair dyed black he's been asking to put color in it as well. He at first wanted red, as in fire-engine red, but then changed his mind to blue. Earlier this month we had bought the bleaching powder, developer and the blue dye, but because he was having trouble with his grades Big B and I refused to succumb to his wishes. Since then he's been working hard to try and get his grades up, and I thought it was time to reward him.

I am not a colorist. We do not have a hair washing sink. Like a dumbass I started the process later in the evening Friday. That all adds up to YOU SHOULD NOT GET WITHIN ONE HUNDRED FEET OF YOUR SON'S HAIR WITH ANY TYPE OF CHEMICALS. The things we do for our kids...and to save a buck.

Talk about comedic occurrences. I decided it was best to touch his roots up with the black dye before bleaching the small section of hair he wanted dyed blue. After the first process, when it was time to rinse the black dye out, he had to get into the shower with his boxer shorts on and I stood there for a very long time rinsing...and rinsing...and rinsing some more. After towel drying his hair I applied the bleach paste to the small section we had tied off. I decided rather than chance burning his hair I would only leave it on for about 20 minutes, tops. Dumb move #225.


When it was time to apply the clue dye, I'd forgotten to grab a pair of gloves, which of course I do have.




Oh, and when it says "do not apply to scalp" you should really heed that warning!! And maybe, just maybe if you leave the bleach on longer therefore lightening the hair sufficently yo just might end up with blue hair and not ....






Live and Learn

sisterhood

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:
Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude.
Be sure to link to your nominees in your post.
Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.
Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.

1. Robin. One of my oldest blogfriends only because she's one of my oldest friends. We went to high school together, and were able to reconnect via the 'net. Robin is the editor extraordinaire of Our Big Earth where you'll find gems of the Comox Valley Of Vancouver BC, Canada, that extend to our big Earth!

2. Lorie. I met my dear friend Lorie before moving to VA. We came across one another on a website for military wives and wouldn't you know it we had so much in common it was a friendship that was meant to be! She's a nurse, and one of my inspirations for deciding to get back on the path to follow my dream of becoming a nurse. She's also a talented cook and dishes up some great recipes on her blog!

3. Christy. When I first decided to start blogging about my nursing school experience it seemed like a good idea to search out other student nurses. I came across Christy's blog. She had just finished school the year before. After reading her blog for a bit she had me laughing so hard when she wrote about going to take her NCLEX I just had to get to know her! I also admire her for her strength as a mother and I know she's developed into an exceptional nurse!

4. Amanda. If a name can be synonymous with strength, or sheer will, it would be Amanda, maybe it even is. This young lady is a survivor. She's surviving these past few weeks from grief. I came across her blog by way of another blog and I consider myself fortunate for having done so. Amanda is a truly inspirational person.

5. At Your Cervix. The name says it all, does it not? Being that I'm drawn to labor and delivery and such I was, of course, drawn to this blog, and have been hooked since! AYC is forging her way through midwifery school. She shares her stories from school, as well as her work in L&D.

6. Andrea. Love this girl! I once told her that if I had a daughter I'd want her to be like her! Need I say more?

7. Christine. Another nursing student like myself, just trying to make the grade. She delivers tales of her journey, and is always willing to lend support! All that and she's taken on a new family member! I also dig her sense of humor!

8. Jen. Jen incorporates tales of her nursing school days as well as her days spent as a volunteer, and the wife of an electrician/volunteer firefighter. Her blog is endearing and well-read. She's also created a blog especially for nursing students.

9. Heather. This woman is a riot! Too bad she lives across the US or we'd have to hang out and have a blast of a good time! We'll just have to settle for the blogsphere! She's supportive, strong and has tenacity that many lack.

10. Prisca. Here you'll find another one of my L&D heroes. This woman is without a doubt a modern day saint. Read her blog and you'll find out why! She's been a nurse for little over a year, but has had experiences that many have never had in a lifetime of nursing.

11. Undergrad RN. Yet another great place for a great account of nursing school rantings and all the joys that we as student nurses encounter. These accounts are from my Canadaian friend, and it's interesting to "hear" things from the Canadian perspective. You'll absolutely love this witty blog!

12. Becky. A woman after my own heart. I've often said there ought to be an association for mom's of only sons. Becky shares stories of her life, including some of her son who has been diagnosed with ADHD, all the while maintaining a GFCF (gluten free-casein free) household. She posts many scrumptious recipes on her blog! Becky is also one of my oldest, from back in the good ole days of high school, friends!

13. RN2BE. I have a friend in New Zealand. I'll never forget when she contacted me either! How fun is this! It's been great to read her stories, since she's also a student nurse! It's been great to learn the cultural differences.

14. Tiffany. Last, but certainly not least! This fine young lady nominated moi for this delightful award! If you've never visited Tiffany you're in for a treat. She is such a sweet girl, and yes, you guessed it....she's one of my nursing student sisters. Please stop by, offer her support, after all we all need it from time to time! She's also a newlywed. Her husband is in the Navy and is deployed. Cheers to the military wife!

oh what a feeling!

Pharmacology final is over!

We had 40 multiple choice questions on interactions, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, geriatrics, peds, drug approval...you know, the basics. The last half of the exam consisted of the calculations. You can bet I wasn't the only one who flipped straight for the back and started working like a mad woman to finish those problems/challenges. One of the teachers that I worked with at the high school, a math teacher in particular has a motto, "There are no problems, only challenges". It makes sense!

What a good feeling it is to have that weight lifted off my shoulders!

Now we just have to play the waiting game. Our instructor told us she would have the grades posted tomorrow morning if not tonight.

I'm going to keep myself busy by heading over to the high school for the JV baseball game. Normally I wouldn't have much of an interest in this but a friend of mine, with whom I went to high school in Colorado, lives in an adjacent county and her son's HS is playing my son's HS. She and I don't see each other very often with both of us having busy lives, but since I am officially on Spring Break I'm going to take a bit of a breather from my norm and go hang out with her! Besides I'll know plenty of other moms (parents) that will be there too!

Tomorrow I have my big day of retail therapy planned, but I'd forgotten that the kids have the day off, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. I may end up with a tag-along, but maybe not. LB has plans to stay the night with some of his Varsity buds. They've really taken him under their wings. No joke. Their mascot's the Eagles, and it looks just like the Philadelphia Eagles. He's just like their little eaglet I guess. They have practice in the later part of the morning anyway. AW will be my tag-along if he doesn't come up with some other scheme before this evening is over.

For clinicals my classmates and I had our orientation yesterday and I met my patient. It's occured to me that because I am not anonymous and I am only caring for one patient I am going to have to be extra super-duper Hipaa vigilant and creative with my stories. I will say for now I am looking forward to the overall experience. I'm not intimidated by the care I'll be giving, but I will be sufficiently challenged.

As far as the question I posed yesterday about people's thoughts on the statement "If you are meant to be a nurse you will do fine",this was a closing statement in an email from my husband. We had been having a discussion (heated, aggravated, angered, irritated...) and my last statement had been something to the effect of "...and I'm supposed to take care of someone else's family member???" I said this because I have been frustrated because, well let's just put it this way: in life we have peaks and troughs (yeah, a little too much pharmacology as of late), and my family has been going through what seems like more troughs than peaks lately, and as the mom/wife/caregiver I have been feeling strain to the enth degree....all that with school on top. When I read that statement on his email it struck me funny. I would have expected something more to the effect of "Oh, honey! You are going to be a wonderful nurse! blah, blah, blah" Now in reality the former statement is more like my husband, and especially so when you consider the context with which it was made.

Live, love, and learn.

sparking creativity

One of the things I plan to do during my upcoming break is scrapbooking.

I was just paying a visit to one of my dear blogfriends, Nursapalooza, and she was talking about making a December daily-album. Check it out! Check out Nursapalooza's blog too! She's a fellow student nurse.

This website has tons to offer to the scrapbooking enthusiast! Tons of links for other sites as well!

craving mad

We made it home this afternoon after three delightful days spent in NJ.

Wednesday we spent relaxing, and then went out to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, with my father-in-law, his girlfriend, and a family we're friends with. They also have two boys, but their's are younger than ours. They're hilarious kids though! For instance, when my husband was down in the den, the younger one (6 year old) happened to walk in and my husband asked, "Who the hell are you?" Low and behold if the little guy didn't repeat the question verbatim, and with just as much gusto as my husband! The things kids say! That's not the worst of it. Sure, my husband shouldn't have said "hell", but that pales in comparison to some of the other things these kids said!


Thursday ended up being far more enjoyable than I would've ever guessed it could have, considering we spent it with a few people we'd never met before. We went to my father-in-law's girlfriend's house. Her son, her daughter, the daughter's husband were also there. Everyone was really nice and got along quite well.

I took a book bag with me containing my psych book and my nursing book. Did they ever see the light of day? Nope! I'll be getting back into full swing...starting tomorrow.

Today I've spent recovering from last night. I went and spent the day with some friends we had been stationed with a while back. We had a great time hanging out, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, and drinking wine.


I drank a little too much! The hangover started in the middle of the night, and lasted well into our drive home today. I was able to sleep it off, but have still not felt 100%. So I'm spending the day doing some more relaxing, which will probably be very good for me to prepare me for the next two weeks.

This week I have to do the last assignments for my psych class, and my FINAL final for my B.S. is Friday night! You probably already knew this since I've mentioned it a zillion times! Tuesday my group does our presentation for Nur100, and Wednesday is my last skills test. This one is O2 administration, trach care, urine specimen collection, and blood glucose testing. After this week I'll just be studying for my nursing class finals on the 16th.

All this and I have yet to buy a single Christmas present! Yikes! Tomorrow I'll probably go do my grocery shopping, along with some Christmas shopping. Then I"ll come home, put everything away, and start studying for everything!

About that craving, it has to do with hormones I would venture to guess. I take Quasense, a generic form of Seasonale, which is one of the birth control pill choices where the woman has only 4 periods a year. I take this sort of pill because I get menstrual migraines. So I take it to avoid having the migraines monthly. Because I've been so busy with classes, and other life matters I haven't taken the time to really sit back and think about it, but that's something I should add to my to-do list for break, and that would be figuring out how effective this really is. I still get the headaches pretty frequently, and usually at about 6 weeks prior to when I'm supposed to have my period.

That's not all, here it is a month away and I am having insane chocolate cravings! It all drives me mad!

STBTF

I found it! And I am so happy! You might be wondering what I lost that could make me so happy to have found it. It would be my Fundamentals of Nursing DVD-ROM!!! I was just looking online for a replacement and decided to look around the desk, thinking it just had to be here somewhere, and voila! It was on top of the computer tower under our Blockbuster.com envelopes!!!!!!!!!!! So I am thankful for whomever placed it there, although its MIA status has caused a lot of concern for many days now!

I was so happy I even kissed it. That is sad...sad, sad nursing student!


Something else that makes me happy, and that I am grateful for, is my newfound friendships here in blogland. Thanks to those of you who have been keeping in touch and offering your support. It means a lot!

who's stopping by?

Really! I'd like to know! I've made some new friends via the blog world, and appreciate their comments. I also appreciate my old friends' comments. So if you would please just take a moment, and let me know you stopped by I'd appreciate that too!

All you need is either a Google or Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, or AIM ID. You can also click "anonymous" and just sign it in the post.