Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Week in Review (Week 13)

Things that have happened:


1. Passed the 25k mark on my WIP.

2. Really enjoyed the newborn transition rotation & I saw a cesarean section. I gave a one-hour-old baby vaccines and I bathed him. Awesome! I guess I have a hard heart (not) because I didn't mind giving a baby a shot. Not one bit.

3. Making some strides on the future job hunt.

4. Hubby and I got a puppy!

Ripley

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Week in Review (Week 15)

15 weeks until I'm a registered nurse!


What's been happening this week?

Well, I've started back to class fully. I had a long, adventurous day in Atlanta for my pediatric clinical orientation. I think it's going to be interesting, and my clinical instructor seems awesome.

Yesterday, I was traumatized all day by my obstetrics orientation. Including a still-frame slideshow of a live birth. It was amusing, watching the groups of students go in and out of the different stations. Amidst the smiles were a few faces of horror and despair (including my own). Fortunately, my OB clinical is 12 hours, so I only have to go 6 times this semester!

The job hunt is gearing up. I try not to think about it too often (what a joke), because it stresses me out worse than anything school-related. They advise graduating nurses to start applying in early February. It's a weird thought to be applying for something that requires licensure, knowing you won't have the opportunity to obtain that licensure for 3-5 more months. But I'm tinkering with my resume and making a bookmark list of all the hospitals in the area I'm interested in and trying to think of my answers to potential interview questions.

Getting up early to write is going well! My progress on the current book is surprising. The story seems to be just falling into place, with me only having to think about the details.

Current wordcount: 18,915
Current weather: rainy
Current music: Yoshida Brothers Pandora station


How has your week been? Tell me!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

For Love of the Game

Isn't that a movie? I'm sure Hubby would know it instantly--not just the title, but all the actors and the entire plot. He's good like that.

So today is my first day back to class. And even though it's my last semester of nursing school and I'll be free soon enough, I made a personal goal to try to work on my writing more during school. Since reading/studying takes up pretty much all my time during the day, and I try to at least look at Hubby during the evenings, I concluded that I have but one option for finding writing time: get up early.

Oh, it pains me! I've decided that on non-clinical days (T, W, Th), I will get up at 5:00am and write for either an hour or until it's time for the day. I already have to get up at 4:00am for clinical days, so this really is just keeping me in the habit, I suppose. I do love my sleep, but sacrifice is necessary for all things.

This morning I got up at 5:30 and managed to write almost 600 words in 45 minutes. I'm happy with that. And now I won't feel the lingering guilt and desire to write in the evenings instead of doing stuff with Hubby.

Win-win. Right?

Let's hope so.

As for this semester, my classes are officially titled "Care of the Maternal/Child Client" and "Care of the Pediatric Client." So, you know, pregnancy, babies, and kids.

*sigh*

We'll see, folks.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Getting off on the wrong foot.

Literally.

So far, the year 2013 isn't being so nice to hubby and me. Hopefully this is some negativity hitting us early, so the rest of the year will open up to great things like raises and jobs and all that jazz.

1. On New Year's Eve, while displaying my Kinect Adventures jumping prowess to assembled friends, I landed wrong on my foot and sprained my ankle/bruised the 5th metatarsal. So I haven't gone running once this new year.

2. On January 1, we discovered that a car problem we thought was resolved is, in fact, not.

3. On January 2, I had to argue with my university for the rest of my loan money to cover my last semester of school. (Granted, that worked out fine, but it pissed me off really supremely, thus making it a bad day.)

4. On January 3, I finally made a dentist appointment to see what is up with this jaw pain I've been having. Turns out, I somehow have an abscessed molar and will need both a root canal and a crown in the next few weeks. Even better, my dental insurance covers less than half the cost of the procedure, meaning hubby and I will be paying some big bucks out of pocket.


Now, believe me, I do see some silver linings. For instance, I've been turning my ankle a little every time I trail run, so I'm not surprised it gave so easily. I'm grateful it didn't break while I was running.

As far as my loan money goes, it did go through, as I said. And I feel bad for being a little sharp with the student worker I was talking with, but he was very wrong in his information. Later that evening, hubby and I went to Bonefish Grill for dinner on a gift card from his boss, had an excellent meal, and left a huge tip for our nice server after talking with her about the horrible serving jobs we've had in the past. That felt good.

For my tooth...well, I have been in a lot of pain. Obviously, an abscess isn't something you want to let stay. So it's good that they found it, and it's good that it'll be removed. I'm grateful that I have insurance that's paying at least a chunk of the bill, so we don't have to pay the whole thing. I'm grateful that they have crowns and such, and they don't just have to pull out my tooth. Yikes. And the dentist said other than the mysterious abscess, I have really health teeth (I swear, that tooth isn't all bajanked and rotten. There seems to be nothing wrong with it at all, but the dentist thinks it may have been too late for the root when I got my filling 2 years ago).

But in good news, I'm making fantastic progress on my new WIP. I'm on such a downhill slide toward graduation that I'm kinda scared. And I have my best friend and life partner holding my hand through all these tribulations.

Happy new year, folks! I hope yours is getting off to a good start. :)

Look at this picture of my fat cat: