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I'm here now. Well, again. So. :)

Let's see how long this lasts, shall we?

I think I like lists.

Loathe...

• Venipuncture day in lab... I are bruised.
• Waking up late like a dumbass, and not have enough time to get ready for class.
• Looking like ass.
• Did I mention that I hate needles?
• Chris leaving for another 2 weeks... starting to feel like home port is a visiting port, for sure.
  

Love!

• Cold, leftover pizza. It's calling my name.
• Xanax. Venipuncture. 'nuff said.
• Elephant Bar!
  
• My totally adorable kittens and their total adorableness.
• Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow
• Shopping on Saturday with mom. Going to try to buy some more A&F jeans and a top I was eying last weekend.
• Going to play WoW tonight. Determined!

I did this list wrong... my list next week will be better. Promise!

1. Lunch and a movie - Rubios and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. It was boiling hot outside while we ate our lunch at the mall, but the cool movie theater saved us.
2. Found out that a Bare Escentuals store as been opened at said mall. I love that mall... has EVERYTHING.
3. Suppressed the urge to buy this because I was in desperate need of new jeans.
4. Went home - proceeded to clean the spare closet full of boxes of JUNK. Cleared 5 boxes, I can't believe it.
   
5. Chris got a new PSP (his old one somehow disappeared...), some games for it, and a DS game for me.
6. Went to a BBQ, partook in home made street tacos and alcohol. Came home early, Chris has work today; I was happily drunk.

The end!

I've turned into a coffee-drinking monster. Seriously! I drink at least 2 cups of coffee a day - at work, it's even worse because we have a flavored coffee machine in the break room. But I was a wreck earlier in the week, when I ran out of creamer and didn't have time to go to the grocery store until Thursday. I had to go to Starbucks before lab in the afternoon on Wednesday, and didn't even get to have coffee Thursday morning before going to the adult day care to volunteer. So I made up for it by have a grande mocha frap while grocery shopping, and making a pot of coffee at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon >.<

But it's just so darn good, I can't help myself... I'm chugging away at my first 2 cups of the day right now.

So here's to an end of a great week. I'm very pleased at how this week went, in retrospect.

• Monday was the math exam which had to be passed with a 90% or better - I got a 92%.
  
• Lab on Tuesday was lead by a substitute (which we later found out, was the real instructor of the course, but she's on maternity leave - our current lab instructor is HER sub!), who is lovely and almost made me want to grab her by the feet and beg her to stay.
  
• Wednesday, our real lab instructor redeemed himself. I like him now, and look forward to the rest of lab (ESPECIALLY clinicals in June!).
  
• On Thursday, a classmate and I spent the greater part of the morning at an adult day care a few miles from my house. It was interesting... let's just leave it at that.
• I was in the best mood on Friday. I worked, and had the pleasure of spending the day with my favorite coworker. She's in LVN school right now, and plans to dive right into RN school when she's done in December. Some of my favorite nurses worked on my wing too, so it was a nice day. I also FINALLY got to eat lunch with my favorite Amy, the unit clerk, who I hardly ever see anymore because I work one day a week. And, Gil, my fav physician, is working in the inpatient center with us this month, and EVERY Friday, he orders pizza from one of the authentic pizza joints down the street for the unit. It rocks.

So now, we're to the weekend. Today will be spent at the movies and a BBQ; tomorrow, at home studying. Though, I'm going to try to make it a point to go study by the pool tomorrow. It's supposed to be pretty warm this weekend, I can't spend it all indoors.

I'm eying the breast cancer special edition stethoscope by Littman, big time. It's a nice in-between of baby pink and bright pink. I'm going to do some research as far as finding pediatric and neonate attachments for the Classic II SE in general, but I really want that stethoscope. For a variety of reasons, actually: we all know what my favorite color is; people will be less-inclined to use a pink stethoscope that's just lying around; I doubt every other nurse on the unit will have a pink stethoscope, therefore, I will be able to spot it from a mile away. And that's IF I ever put it down for a minute and misplace it. I want to get it soon, even though it's sold out right now. The sprague stethoscopes we got from school are double lumen, with that nasty metal clamp in the middle that keeps the two lumens nice and attached - that ALWAYS gets stuck on my hair, I hate it. Littmans are single lumen, which means NO metal clamp to get stuck in my hair!

Here's a good visual for you: bright blue (think Smurf blue) school uniform scrubs, and a pretty pink stethoscope. That's me!

Though, at this point, I'm contemplating cutting my hair off again. And this time, I mean COMPLETELY off. As in, semi-long side bangs in the front, maybe some shaggy detail on top to add volume, and spike in the back. I am tired of putting my hair up all day. I don't care if my hair will look more or less the same every day with such a short hair cut, at least it'll look like I tried if I do it. I got super annoyed with my hair yesterday morning when all I did was blowdry my bangs to the side after I put on make up and put it back with a hair clip. Boring. So yeah, I'll keep you all posted - haven't found the right hair style yet.

There is nothing quite like working with nurses and having them at your disposal when you have questions about nursing school, nursing practice, or just nursing in general. For as long as I can remember, one of the nurses I'm most close with has been giving me advice about what to do with nursing. And at first, I took her advice to heart and really believed it. But now, the more into the nursing program I get and the more sure I am of the specialty I want to pursue, I really don't know if I want to take her advice.

I was talking to another nurse last night about how school is going, and she asked me what I wanted to do once I graduated. I told her, and I knew we are on the same boat because in her youth, she was a pediatric nurse and that's truly what I want to be. She worked in the level 2 NICU, and she said she absolutely feels that in all of her years of nursing, NICU and hospice work have been the most rewarding. According to her, our local children's hospital has a great NICU, and have a great rep for on the job training of new hires. Everything she was telling me was making me so excited, because it's exactly what I want to hear since it relates to what I want to do with my degree. But my trusty nurse said that I still need to get experience in Med/Surg first, to get my basic nursing skills down and to be able to make associates like "ok, patient's such-and-such is this, and so this is why the doctor ordered that" or something to that affect. Which I totally understand and get... but even the peds nurse was like "see, I don't necessarily agree" and here's why. Med/Surg in general will be good for me to know, but very little information I actually learn from there, I will take with me to a NICU. Or so says peds nurse. I don't know...

But if anything, I will work in pediatric Med/Surg. If anything. I have little desire to work with adults, and 0 desire to work with geriatrics. That's just not where my heart lies. I want to help babies and children, which is fine, right? Considering more often than not, I meet nursing students who do not want anything to do with peds or neonatal. There is a person for every job. The closest I want to get to work with adults is to be a Nurse Midwife.

So can you see that I'm super on the fence about this? I mean, I totally value nurse A's opinion about starting out in Med/Surg or a floor that will allow me maximum experience-gathering time, but at the same time, my heart value's nurse B's assurance that I don't need Med/Surg experience for a NICU.

...but I think I just need to shut up and just try to get through the first year of nursing school.

Anyway, I spent a shit load of money today and I'm happy because it's rare that I spend money on myself anymore. Chris and I went to the mall, and I'm super stoked because I bought me some Dansko professional clogs (in white) for school and work; they set me back $114 but they're seriously the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. I'm wearing them right now. I can't wait for lab on Tuesday, so I can wear these babies with my school scrubs. I also bought:

• Incanto Heaven perfume - seriously smells amazing, and the bottle is so pretty.
  
• 4 oz. jar of Hope in a Jar
• A shirt and pair of earrings from shanalogic.com

So yeah, I'll be broke for a while. But anyway, time for me to go study conversions and medication formulas. Peace.

Slowly but surely, I'm cleaning the house because I like to do a nice, big clean at least once a week. And of course, on the day that I wash the sheets, Mocha turns into a bed bug.

I had a huge issue earlier this afternoon with the furbabies. After them keeping me up until 1 in the morning with constant BS that required me to get out of bed and scold them, I was in full-on bitch mode with a sinus headache this morning. When I was making lunch, I put them in the bedroom (hello, tuna fish and kittens? yeah, no...) to keep them out of my hair. I went to let them out when I was done, went to open the blinds in our bedroom, and heard a crash. Not two seconds after I let them out, Kona managed to jump on the dining room table and knock down my glass of grape juice. By some miracle, the glass rolled off the table onto the floor, and did not tip over onto my Macbook not 2 inches away from the whole ordeal (it even got some juice on the side...). I was irate. Please don't call ASPCA on me, but I swear to God, if I had not put the kittens as far away from me at that instant, Kona would have spent one of his 9 lives today. Good Lord...

I kept them both in the bathroom for a good 30 minutes while I cleaned the mess, learned how to take grape juice out of the carpet, enjoyed the lovely purple lines stained into the wall, and ranted my ass off to Chris over e-mail. I started to miss them, though, so I let them out.

The funny thing is, when it happened, I distinctly remember Kona standing standing there a few inches away, completely frozen stiff and with this look on his face like "Oh shit...". I swear, he knows when he's being evil...

Our new name for the Double Trouble Duo is Hell On Legs. Fitting.

Thanks for all your support, everyone. I am still sick, and I don't seem to be getter better, but I got an A on the final, and a B in the class. I'm really glad, that class almost seemed impossible to pass.

ILU all!

I don't like the heat.

We have fans all over the house, all of which work at producing perfectly good, cool air currents. Our apartment has an ac, which we used for the first time yesterday. It's 78 degrees in the house and while I'm comfortable now, it's way too hot for me outside. And it's stupid, because I think the hottest it gets, on average, is 90 degrees F. in the summer.

But I need to live in a place that stays cooler then that in the summer, which lasts shorter then it does here. I am all for cold, miserable, long winters if it meant I could wear cold weather clothes and not sweat my hypothetical balls off in misery for 8 months out of the year.

But my family is here.

What am I really talking about, you ask? Chris. He bring it up every once in a while, moving out of state to a place with mild summers and cold winters. And while I love the idea, I also despise it. My parents... my FAMILY... ALL live in California. The only aunt/uncle pair who live out of state will be retiring in a few years (my uncle, anyway) and moving back to San Diego. My cousin lives in Utah, but is planning on moving to Lake Tahoe eventually. I was always close with my family growing up, and I want my kids to have the same experiences. But my husband really has nothing but ill feelings toward the idea of raising our kids here. Which I don't understand, it's not where the children are raised as much as how they are raised.

He wants to move to Oregon or Washington.

Anyway, onto more exciting future planning. I had no idea the iMac had a video card. This means I won't be building myself a custom PC after school, when the need for a laptop isn't as high. I only need the video card to play WoW, nothing else. for a little over 2 grand, I can have an amazing desktop with a 24" monitor and upgraded to a wireless keyboard and mouse - and who knows, 2 years from now, it'll be even better.

I can hear it now. Chris is going to have a fit. But honestly, I prefer OS X so much more over Windows now. Speaking of, I need to upgrade to Leopard. I'm tired of looking at people's screenshots, with their newfangled reflective dock and menubar and my... notsonewfangled ones. I think I'll ask Chris if I can upgrade in a few weeks.

Who's excited? ME!!!

But anyway, time for me to study my bum off while the kittens sleep. Kona has this thing for jumping on the counter and licking from whatever is in the sink. Especially when I'm studying, because I literally have to get up, he doesn't listen to my voice only. Jon & Kate + 8 tonight!!!

The rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment on their blog and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to come back and read your blog for the whole story

---

1. I get more UV rays from my 47 inch flat panel tv then the sun.
2. I sleep way too much.
3. I tend to procrastinate when it comes to school.
4. Video games and I have a love/hate relationship. We're taking a break right now.
5. Said break is due to the joys of nursing school.
6. Jon and Kate Plus 8 = my obsession. Probably because it's someone else's life, and not mine... oh, what do you know. Jon and Kate Plus 8 on a list of 8.
7. I have a major sweet tooth... to the point that my right back jaw hurts when I eat them. *cry*
8. I don't really like memes like this. Haha, too much thinking involved.

I tag dearbarbz, neutrogena, stargzersar, kissmesteph, godzirrraaaaa, loversinmay, alyssa, and tellyrae.

I can't believe that yesterday ended week 3 of a 4 week course. My first nursing class will be over! ...11 or so more to go! I ran into a friend of mine from a class I took last year; she stated her Nursing program last April, so I'm exactly 1 year behind her. This time next year, I'll be taking psych nursing, like she is now, and will be OHSOready to graduate. I can't wait until I'm done, with an RN, BSN after my name and working 3 days a week. And it's too soon to tell, obviously, but I think I want to start out in the NICU. We'll see. That's the lovely thing about Nursing - I can do anything under the sun with my degree!

I'm also ready to get back into my hobbies. I know it's only been a month, but I already miss being to do things I enjoy. This constant making flashcards, writing papers, and reading the text book is booooring. I miss crocheting, I hate watching Chris play World of Warcraft because I want to play World of Warcraft, I long to play my DS but I don't have time for that either. I don't even have time to read a damn novel. I am particularly looking forward to diving into photography after school ends. Isn't it silly that my biggest motivation for learning photography is so I can have the coolest pictures of my kids for my mommy brag book? Yeah.

Speaking of kids, I've been getting urges... but we know we're not at that stage of our life yet. AND, that's a story for another day...

If anyone would like a Socialthing invite, I've got a few to spare. It's super neat, because I can read all my feeds from the currently-accepted social networking sites, AND, post to Twitter and Facebook at the same time (Myspace soon). Lubs it.