Diary of a Fickle White Woman

Oh, hello, again. Remember me? I've come to terms with the fact that blogging while in class just really does not work. There is minimal downtime, and the downtime I do have, I usually want nothing to do with my computer. I am currently off until January 10, so I do hope to blog more during the next 3 weeks, but after that, I'll be MIA for another 7 weeks. Let's catch y'all up to speed, shall we? This past term I was in Pharmacology, Maternal-Newborn (aka, OB), and Nursing Care of Children (aka, Peds). It was, hands down, the hardest term thus far. I don't know if the content was harder or if there was just a lot more work, but it was intense (and unfortunately seemed to move at a snails pace). I have no completed 3/8 terms and have only 7 months left until graduation! SO CRAZY! I did really well this term, but there were a lot of frustrations. Unfortunately, I'm 95% sure someone from the school I go to has discovered my blog and I don't want to deal with th...

To say I am behind on blogging would be a gross understatement. I have about 6 books to do a review on (from August. Ha, like I have time to read for pleasure during school), and I have an entire post to write about the latest happenings with creepy neighbor. But I'll catch you up to speed on school for now, because apparently that's all I'm really capable of talking about. I had finals this past week, putting an end to term 2. WOOOOOO!!! I'm 25% finished with nursing school!!!!! This past term was just kind of eh, for me. I really didn't find it overly interesting or exciting. I finished up learning all of my skills (I learned the first half in July) and can now give an enema, clean a wound, give shots, pass meds, administer and read a TB test, insert an NG tube, suction, etc. Basically all the skills one learns as a licensed practical nurse . I did find all of that to be interesting, because obviously it will be applied to my everyday life, and I like being hands ...

Classes started two weeks ago and a part of me just died inside at the realization that it has only been two weeks. Seriously, I could have sworn it had been at least three. Things are going well so far, I'm only in 8 credit hours, so it's totally manageable, considering in undergrad I took 15-18 every semester. Here's some bulleted updates of the past two weeks (OK seriously, it's killing me every time I write that). ~Creepy neighbor asked my landlord if I died and if she could come into my apartment and check on me. You see, I went home for the month of August to work since I didn't have school. Apparently my absence "worried" him and he wanted reassurance that there wasn't a corpse in the apartment above his. My landlady knew I was home, so she told him to let her know if it started to smell haha. Then he said to her, "Maybe she has a boyfriend and has just been with him a lot." God bless that woman for telling him that was indeed the cas...

when I said I'd post updated pics of my apartment? Well, I've finally gotten around to it. Poor blog has had to take the back seat in an 18 passenger van during this current phase of my life. Anyway, I still like my apartment and living alone, but I look forward to the day that I can fully decorate a place that I won't have to pack up in a year. A place where I can make a house a home... and have the funds to decorate it how I really want it to look. But, for the next 10ish months, this place will do just fine. Office Dining area looking into kitchen (I changed the flowers on the table, added that little red table, and hung the posters.) Another view of the dining area (added place mats, the black table in the corner, and changed the poster). Cute little kitchen Changed the wall behind the couch- the prints are orchids The other side of the living area (I added the M and clock). Also, behind the door in the right corner is my washer and dryer aka best part about my place....

Growing up is funny. When we're kids, all we want is to be a grown up; and when we're grown up, all we want to know is what the hell was so appealing about being older when we were kids. Apparently I'm an adult. In 9 months, I'll be 25. A quarter of a century. And I'm already starting to freak out. Not because it means I'm that much closer to being 30. Ok, maybe a little because it means I'm that much closer to being 30. And not because 25 used to seem so old when I was kid. Even though it did. But because I feel so... unaccomplished. Which I'm sure sounds entirely ridiculous to some of you. Yes, I am working on my second bachelor's degree and yes I am less than a year away from being a nurse, but that's it. I am a planner. I have had my life planned since I knew what "the future" meant. Of course, said plans have had to be tailored quite often because, you know what the proverbial they say, "We plan, God laughs." But it has s...

I received my schedule for the fall, which will be broken down into two 7-week sessions. The first seven weeks I will be in class MWF, clinical at a hospital in Ft. Wayne, and a "free" day Thursdays. MW- 7:50am-9:50am Physical Assessment MWF- 10am-12pm Adult Health I M- 1:15pm-3:05pm Physical Assesment Lab T- Clinical in Ft. Wayne for 5 weeks, 7am-3pm. Ft. Wayne is over an hour drive from campus, so I'll have to wake up at 5. Have I ever mentioned how I am so NOT a morning person. And I don't drink coffee, tea, or energy drinks. Anyone have suggestions for waking up the mind & body that early in the morning? W- 1:15pm-3:05pm Advanced Principles of Intervention F- 2:15pm-4:05pm Advanced Principles of Intervention Lab. The second 7-week session I'm not sure where my clinical will be or what day, but here is my class schedule. I'm really excited for these classes: MWF- 10am-11:20am Nursing Care of Children MWF- 12:30pm-2:30pm Pharmacology MW- 2:40pm-4:40pm Ma...

I started this several months ago, read the majority of it, and have yet to finish it. At this point, I'll probably start it over in a few years and hopefully be more successful in getting through it. If you've ever wanted to know an insane amount of information regarding the history of the Mormon church, then this is the book for you. Not that it wasn't interesting, because I actually do find the Mormon faith to be incredibly fascinating, but it was just really, really heavy with detail and opinion. Then it talks heavily about the fundamentalist Mormons and that's exactly where I got lost. I am intrigued by the FLDS and polygamy, but I'd prefer to hear true accounts of this life-style, not the history of their beliefs. For me, I was hoping "Under the Banner of Heaven" would be the true story of two brother's who killed their sister-in-law and niece as an alleged atonement of their faith, because that's exactly what I thought the book sleeve sa...

I started this draft a month ago and am finally getting around to writing it. Whoops. If you haven't heard of The Help by now, I'd be really, really surprised. But maybe you aren't a pop culture lover like me. Whatever the case, I highly suggest you run to the nearest book retailer, buy this book, and get lost in it's 400+ pages. And then, when all is said and done, you can go and watch the movie, which was just released and I hear is pretty fabulous (of course, movies are never as good as the book though, in my opinion). Confession: I was, without a doubt, born in the wrong era. I love everything about the way of the life in the 40s, 50s, and 60s and wish I could travel back in time and be in my late teens/early 20s during each decade. Since I have such a strong love for the simpler way of life that presented itself 40-60 years ago, I tend to gravitate toward books that focus on this time period. The Help is set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, and is the story...

Terms, that is! Last week was a crazy busy week for school- I had an exam, three quizzes, a skills competency, two projects, three comprehensive final exams, and a final skills competency- but it's all over and I am FREE until September 6th, when I start my second term. In pathophysiology, I got a 99/100 on my final, a 96 for the term. In foundations of nursing, I earned a 97.5/100 on the final, a 95 for the term. In principles of intervention, I received an 83/100 on the final, which was a pleasant surprise considering we all had less than nice things to say about the exam and my professor. On my comps, I received 87/90 points for the term, and my overall grade for the course was an 88. Two A's and a B+! I'm thrilled & hopeful that the seven remaining terms go just as well. Between now and next August, I have two 7-week terms this fall (followed by 3 weeks off for Christmas), two 7-week terms in the spring (with a week-long spring break), a May term, and two ...

I'm not promising a good one, but it's a post. Still here. Still surviving. School has actually been significantly less difficult than I had anticipated, but I know that all could change next term. I have a few quizzes, skills tests, project and paper due between now and next Friday, then take a final next Thursday and two next Friday and I'm off until September 7. I'm not in dire need of a break, but it will be nice to be able to enjoy the summer weather again... and babysit to make some money! Some random ramblings: ~I can't take instructors seriously if they continually mispronounce medical terms. Unfortunately, two out of my three do this daily. ~I've always been basically 100% certain that I'd never do adult care. Let me just say, after focusing solely on skills pertaining to adult care for the past 4 weeks, I will NEVER do adult care. Bathing the adult client and urinary catheterization was the final straw haha. Babies and kids is what I love and where...

I know most people don't log into blogger on the weekends, but that will probably be my only time to log in, so if you're curious about my first week of nursing school, you can read that post here . Have a great week!

Obviously since I'm writing this, I (somehow) survived the first week of nursing school. I have no doubt in my mind that this will be the hardest 11 months of my life, but I am not regretting my decision to become a nurse. Sure, I've already asked myself a billion times, "Lord, what have I gotten myself into?" or "Can I handle this?" but you know what, I'm just taking it one day at time and have confidence that God won't give me any more than I can handle. And did you notice I said 11 months? Yea, that's right. I'm doing a four year program in eleven months. The school says the program is 14 months, but I'm not sure where they get that for the cohorts that start in summer, because we all start in July and graduate the following August, so that's 13 months. And I just found out that we also have the month of August off (down time between the universities end of summer sessions and start of fall) and mid-December to mid-January off for...

There are three things that will get me through nursing school: 1. Prayer 2. The encouragement of family & friends, including all of you. Especially those who are in nursing school and can totally relate. 3. A well-stocked liquor cabinet. The more blog posts I read by fellow nursing students, the more I get freaked out. I KNOW this journey is NOT going to be a walk in the park, but the more I read, the more I feel like I'm totally unprepared and this is going to be even more difficult than I could even imagine. And I met with a friend yesterday who told me that one of our mutual friends is really having a tough time with her accelerated nursing program she started in May, the very program I was set to do before I changed my mind (again) and settled on the one I am now doing. She said she's really stressed and overwhelmed and thinking the accelerated program was a bad idea. Granted, she is working and going to school, and the program is mostly online, so probably a lot is se...

Except I don't live in a mansion, I don't have an amazing pool in my yard, and you won't see the inside of my refrigerator-- or any part of my kitchen, for that matter, as I have yet to finish putting it together. BUT, you will see pics of every other room in my apartment! I'm sure it looks like I have a ton of stuff and that I probably spent quite a bit of money, but I did it all relatively inexpensively. I'm actually going to finish my kitchen and make some changes when I get back up there on Thursday, so I'll add some more pictures later in the week, but here are some shots of it as of now: This is what you see when you come up the stairs and look to the right. The couch my parents have had in the attic for years, waiting for one of us to take it. I bought a slipcover for it and some pillows and it looks totally different. That end table used to be in our sunroom and I repainted and bought a new shade for the lamp. I'm changing the decor on the wall behin...

I seriously hope writing that title gets the damn "Jefferson's" theme song out of my head, because every time I think about the fact that I am moving this Saturday, I instantly start singing the song, and I'm starting to annoy myself. Yes, folks, that's right, I'm moving this saturday. In FIVE days. I'm really trying not to have a panic attack. I went up to my apartment last Wednesday to get my keys and clean the place. You know, I kind of planned on being there for a couple hours, assuming my cleaning would just be really light, touch up stuff for my OCD self, because I figured my landlord did a thorough cleaning for me. Um, no. It was disgusting and full of the previous tenants hair. That's just all kinds of gross. My mom and I spent 6 hours up there scrubbing every surface of the place, but at least now I know that it's spotless and that it was cleaned well. Speaking of my landlord, this woman loves to talk. She's very nice and we have a goo...