Bad Blogger

I have been a bad, bad blogger. I haven't updated in MONTHS! Terrible, I KNOW. But honest, guys, I'm gonna start getting back into my usual blogging routine. Work wears me out, but that is no excuse to abandon you all! So just to start out, I'm gonna list a few things that I've been thinking or wondering or whatever about lately.

--I have been re-watching the episodes of Castle. I can't help but love @NathanFillion. He holds my heart. Aren't he and @Stana_Katic just adorable together?

--I need a social life, peeps. I feel like all I ever do is work. When I'm off work, I'm either catching up on sleep or laundry. Ahh, the exciting life of the young professional.

--I bought a new car! Her name is Janet (ya know, like, "Damn it, Janet, I love you!" from Rocky Horror Picture Show?) and she's a black 2011 Honda CR-V with black leather interior. She is my pride and joy.

--I am moving out in a month or so! My friend from work, Shauna, and I have getting a place soon. We're not sure where or when yet, but as soon as I can make it happen, I'm getting out of my parents' house! I love them, but I NEED my own place. Shauna and I have become the best of friends since we've been working together and I'm really excited to live with her.

--My best friend, Amanda, got married! She was a beautiful bride! I was the Maid of Honor and I was so happy for her. Too bad I couldn't watch the ceremony because I was too busy trying not to cry. Bummer.

--I hate my job sometimes (the long hours, the constant bullsh*t from doctors, etc.) but I am also very lucky to have one that allows me the freedom of schedule that I have. I just finished having 5 days off in a row! And I didn't have to take a single day of PDO! My schedule just happened to work out that way. Sweet, huh?

--I want so many things. Like a new bed and comforter set, a new tv, a bigger bookshelf, etc. But, I'm having to remind myself to be patient. I can eventually get those things, but I guess I get a little greedy and want them all RIGHT NOW. I make decent money but can not afford them all at the same time plus my car payment.

--I need a boy. Problem is, they must be in short supply because I can't find one ANYWHERE. Does anyone know where the future husbands live? I need an address.

--I heart my iPhone. Now that I have one, I don't think I could ever live without it, seriously! I want to have a really cute cover on it (not just the plain pink Otterbox) but I'm scared that I'll drop it and crack the screen!

Ok, I guess that's enough for now. Ya'll need to make me be more responsible for updating. Give me a virtual kick in the head or something.

Old Stuff

Hey guys! I know I haven't blogged in a while. Honestly, I've been spending all of my spare time sleeping or watching tv! Such a winner, I know.

But, today I was playing around on Facebook and I found some old "notes" I'd written, and a part of one I'd like to share.

I wrote this about 4 years ago and it's still true...every bit of it.

Eight ways to win my heart:

1. Be funny.

2. Be smart.

3. Have nice teeth.

4. Be tall.

5. Have dark, curly hair.

6. Be a good dancer.

7. Honestly laugh at my jokes.

8. Listen to what I have to say, and even if you don't agree, at least respect my opinion.

That is so important to me. I have very strong opinions on some things, and being from the South, my liberal views on things are not always well-received. I can't stand it when people look at my different just because I say I voted for Obama and agree with most of his values. Yep, you read that correctly.

I VOTED FOR OBAMA.

But that's not the point. The point is that it shouldn't matter. Just because we disagree on something does NOT give you the right to talk down to me, or to disrespect me in any way. We are a nation of differing opinions, and that's what makes our democracy work. So yeah, we may not see eye-to-eye, but instead of calling me names such as "baby-killer" or "muslim-lover", how about you take a step back and just keep your mouth shut. Because saying those things is not changing me, but instead reinforcing my beliefs.

And whomever I do end of marrying MUST understand these things about me. I can NOT live with someone who does not respect that I have a mind of my own and particular views on things.

It's just the way it is.

Wee Bit Wednesdays

{one} do you collect anything? if so, what and how long have you been collecting? 

I love having all of my favorite tv shows/movies on dvd. I buy books ALL the time. I have over 50 gigs of (just) music on my iPod. Do these things count? :)

{two} what is one cleaning tip that you swear by? 

I don't clean unless it's a necessity. That's what I swear by.

{three} who would you call for bail money? 
Oh man. If I were down here in the Jackson area, I'd have to call Rachel or my parents. But, if I were in the North MS area, I would definitely call Amanda or my Aunt Nancy.

{four} what is one thing you miss about being a kid? 
I took for granted all the time that I had to do what I wanted. No job, no bills-- just being a kid. Yeah, I had school and stuff, but I spent so much time just hanging out! I miss that. It's hard to make time for yourself when you have to prioritize sleep.

{five} name a few of your guilty pleasures. 
sweets of any kind. fanfiction. teen mom/16 & pregnant. diet coke (i always feel SO guilty when I have one!)

{six} how early do you start your holiday shopping? 
About two weeks before Christmas. :) Yep, I'm one of THOSE people.

{seven} what is a family tradition that you would like to pass on to your significant other/children?
Thanksgiving dinners at my grandmother's house with the whole family and yelling at the tv (football games). Always having at least one present that you DON'T know is coming at Christmastime. There are so many more. 

{eight} what do you consider your greatest achievement? 
Nursing school is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I consider it my greatest achievement just to get through it alive. Maybe I didn't make the best grades, but I passed boards on the first time, so I'm happy.

{nine} what do you do to pamper yourself? 
I buy books, movies, etc. when I have a little extra. If I'm feeling really tired I'll take an afternoon to just relax and watch tv/read/sleep.

{ten} if you were to start your own restaurant, what would it be called? 
hmmm... I don't really want a restaurant, but I'd love a music/book shop. So I think I'd call that Bounded Sounds. 

or Pages Bound and Sweet Sounds.

Ok, maybe neither of those. But that's the best I could come up with on such short notice!

Life, Love, and Music

Get ready, folks. This is gonna be one of those crazy, random, whatever-comes-to-my-mind posts.

My poor, poor Rebels. Ya'll, they're terrible. I want to have faith and believe that we've just had some bad breaks, but I know that's not the case. We're just not any good. It's depressing, really.

I love music. So much. And when I hear a good song played on great speakers, I get giddy. "Edge of Desire" by John Mayer just randomly came on my stereo (the good one in my room, not the crappy speakers in my car) and when I could hear the bass line clearly and his voice so smooth.... I sighed. I also love when I'm listening to my iPod on shuffle and a song I haven't heard in years comes on. You know what I'm talking about! That song that you love so much but kinda forgot about because you've been listening to other stuff. And you listen to it and you smile and sing and then you're re-obsessed with it for a little bit.

Whoever came up with Instant Watch on Netflix is my hero. I mean, how great is it? I can watch thousands of movies/tv shows at my leisure for no extra price. My favorite is to find whole series of television shows on there and watch them all. Especially ones that I have always wanted to watch but never got around to it (or ones Blockbuster didn't carry). So excited to be catching up on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians".

I am getting an iPhone for Christmas! YAY! I could scream I'm so excited about it. I have wanted one for so long now, and I've decided that now I'm going to be paying for my own phone/plan, then I might as well pay for what I really want. And that, my friends, is an iPhone 4. Mom and Dad are gonna buy it for me for Christmas, so those of you who have Words with Friends be expecting an invite from me in early January! :)

I had a mini-shopping day with my Mom and sister today. Since I got my very first "career" paycheck on Thursday, I decided to treat myself with a small spending spree at Victoria's Secret. Love.

I also got my birthday gift from my parents today...A new external hard drive. It's PINK! So excited about it.

I've been playing New Super Mario Bros on Wii like it's my job lately. Sister and her boyfriend have been playing it in my room and of course, I join in. It's addicting, though, and I need to detox, for reals.

I work every day except Wednesday next week. And then I'm going to Oxford for my birthday weekend celebrations! I'm so excited to see my Pie and other peeps. We have two Bridal Showers on Sunday to attend, so that should be fun as well.

Well, I guess that's enough randomness for now. I think I'm gonna go look up fun videos on YouTube.

Fridays :)

I didn't get a chance to do this one last week so I'm including last week's and today's in the same post!

1.   My Halloween plans this year included    hanging out at the house and watching all the trick-or-treaters!

2.  My most memorable Halloween costume was    last year's costume with Amanda and Drew. We were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Aweome! 

3.  For Halloween this year I was    Elphaba! Got a black hat and some green makeup. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to wear these things, so I guess I wasn't actually anything.

4.  I've always wanted to dress up as     ehhh....there's nothing that I've longed to dress up as every year but don't. Actually I ALWAYS have a hard time coming up with costumes.

5.  Halloween free association!     orange, apples, candy.

6.  The worst thing about Halloween is     that I'm always trying to out-do someone else and I never succeed.

7.  The best thing about Halloween is     hanging out with friends and being somebody different for the night .

***

1.   My last haircut was      about 2 months ago. It needs a trim again, though. 

2.  My most daring hair moment was     when I dyed it bright red in 10th grade. I loved it, but hated how often I had to touch-up my roots. 

3.  A hairstyle I'd never be brave enough to try is    boy short hair. I have really, really poofy hair and I need length to weigh it down.

4.  I've always dreamt of being a     red-head. Like I said, I tried it once but I'd love to have it professionally done and kept looking nice.

5.  My go-to hair do is     a low side ponytail, maybe a braid on top.

6.  My biggest hair disaster was     when my mom made my chop off my hair in grade 4. It was very short layers with the longest layer being right under my ears. Remember me saying I had poofy hair? This haircut was when I knew for sure I could never have really short hair.

7.  A hairstyle I am dying to try is      harsh bangs. I highly doubt they'd look good, though.

8.  My best hair day was     *IS whenever my sister does my hair. She is so much better at it than I am.  

9.  The worst hairstyle I ever had was    *see question #6 

10.  My hair is     curly. Not uber-curly, but curly. I have to either straighten it or curl it every single day, though.

News! I'm thinking of doing a fabulous mark. giveaway soon! If I can double the amount of followers I have (right now I have exactly 25) to 50, then I'll post one! So tell your friends! :)

I just bought my tickets for the Spring Awakening musical in Memphis on my birthday (Nov. 13)! I'm so super excited!

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday :)

{one} do you still use a checkbook?yeah. i write checks occasionally for bills and to other people, but pretty much always use the debit card or cash. i definitely don't keep up with my transactions! lol

{two} what size shoe do you wear?8.5. i really hate when shoes come in whole sizes only! 8's are too small and 9's are to big.

{three} scary movies or happy endings?happy endings! i hate scary movies. especially the ones "based on true events".

{four} do you prefer spontaneity or stability?it depends on the situation. i like stability in my life but a but of surprise every now and then is good too.

{five} what is the most embarrassing cd that you own?i have it all. think of one "embarrassing" and i've probably listened to it. :)

{six} do you watch reality tv?yes! i love survivor, amazing race, teen mom, 16 and pregnant, keeping up with the kardashians, etc.

{seven} what is your favorite home-made meal?uuuhhhmmm. this is hard. i have so many good cooks in my family. probably my mimi's chicken rotel spaghetti. deeeelicious.

{eight} do you have any allergies?seasonal allergies, but nothing traumatic.

{nine} if you could open your own restaurant/store, what would it be?probably a music/bookstore. two of my very favorite things together!

{ten} would you ever go skydiving (or have you been)?yes, i think i would go. if i didn't chicken out. ;)

Work

Ya'll. I am SO sorry that I've been MIA recently. I just started my new job (yay!) and I'm so busy and completely worn out. I've been working since the 18th, but yesterday and today were my first days actually up on the floor (I've been in orientation the whole time). I was completely flabbergasted and nervous and worried, mainly because I haven't even been in a hospital in 6 mos and would I forget all of my skills? Good news: they're coming back to me!

The hardest part about all of this new stuff is the computer equipment! They have no paper charting (meds or nurse's notes), and I am NOT used to that. I am so used to descriptive charting and signing MAlderman, SN-UMC...all of this paperless stuff is freaking me out. Not that it's necessarily very difficult (I AM a child of the computer-age), it's just trying to get it all figured out that I can do it without thinking about it. Does that make sense?

Anywho, I feel like I might actually be getting the hang of it, though. Maybe. Eventually.

My VERY FIRST day on the floor, not 20 minutes after I clocked in for the first time up there... a patient coded.

CODE BLUE (or Code 99 as we call it at Baptist).

Oh my word. We were just walking down the hall and they called for A. (my preceptor) to come check...and called a code. They thought he'd had a seizure, but later determined he'd thrown a PE (Pulmonary Embolism= a blood clot, air bubble or piece of fat breaks off (most often from the legs) and travels to the lungs, where it blocks the main artery). He was completely fine one second, Post-Op Day 2, and then 5 seconds later wasn't breathing. The Rapid Response Team was unable to save him. Way to start off my very first job, right?

Thankfully, I was very busy all day, so I didn't get to dwell on the terrible start to the day.

Today was better. I'm starting to get the hang of the computers and such (knock on wood). 12 hour days are great (you only work 3-4 days a week!), but SUCK for your back, knees, feet, etc.

Also--get this: I JUST graduated from nursing school in May. I feel in NO WAY ready or able to answer questions of current nursing students. Yeah, I've passed the NCLEX (whoo!), but that doesn't make me a real nurse, right? I guess technically it does, but I certainly don't feel like I have the knowledge and expertise to help them!

Well, yesterday and today we had 10 nursing students (SN: that's a LOT of students running around! I would never be rude to them like some nurses were rude to me, but I can understand how having them all around throws off your whole groove) from Hinds County CC on our floor. And they ALL asked me questions. Bless their souls, they had no way of knowing I am brand new and don't hardly know any more than they do! I tried my best to answer the simple questions, though, and today I actually knew some answers (actual answers, not an "Oh, lemme go ask A.). Progress, right? I know. :)

Well, if you haven't gathered, or don't already know, I work on an Orthopedic floor. It's mainly Post-Op patients. 98% of them had either hip or knee surgery. Many have traction and crazy wound dressings. I'm certainly getting in my Med/Surg experience. I've had the sweetest little old people for patients, though, and they make my job enjoyable.

So, I'm gonna stop talking about work now. That's pretty much all I've done or thought about in 2 weeks, though. :)

Tomorrow's my day off and I'm gonna sleep SO late.

And then I'm gonna go hang with Rachel.

:)

G'night, everyone!