Just participated in tournament #2 yesterday. My first tournament I had to sit out on half the events because of my broken elbow so it was my first time competing (i use the term loosely) in all 4 events...patterns, sparring, power breaking, technique breaking.
I was put in the bracket with all the teenage/adult guys so that is why I use the term competing loosely. It wouldn't have been fair to put me in the girls bracket becuase I think I would have swept it because of my size. I am the only adult female at the school right now who is doing tae kwon do. Makes things a little tricky every now and again.
Patterns was our first event and it went really well for me. I was nervous about going up against one person but other than that, I just went out there with my game face on and did what I knew I could do. I ended up sweeping the bracket, never losing a round and having all 3 judges vote for me each time I was up. That felt really good. I'd really like to see where I end up in a tournament that is bigger because I think it would be interesting and a ton of fun.
Next up was sparring. I wasn't mentally prepared for sparring and when I showed up to the tournament to warm up, I was told we were going to spar each other. I was not in the mindset to spar. At all. It was really sad and I'm a little upset at myself for not placing at least 3rd in this category. I really should have and I think I have the ability to but I let my mind win and take over. Not cool. Not cool at all.
I went up for three rounds. Remember I'm the only girl in this group. I won my first round which I was really happy about. My second round I went up against a guy who I know is a really awesome fighter. I really tried my best but he beat me. On my third round I went up against a guy that I should have kicked the crap out of but at that point my mind had totally taken over and taken a vacation. It was such a terrible round that I embarassed even thinking about it. I know I could have gone in there and really opened up on him but I didn't. If I had gone in on him, I would have been a contender for 3rd place.
I learned a lot about sparring. I know I made mistakes, some major, that I am going to learn from and not make again.
The last two events were breaking events where male genetics will outdo female genetics every time.
Power breaking. This is another of my favorite events. We had to do a side kick and a downward fist. I knew I had the side kick in the bag as far as being able to break a lot of boards. I feel like the kick I did was one of the best I've done in a long time. I feel like I put all of my power and speed into it. It felt fantastic!!! I broke all 3 boards.
I was nervous about the downward fist because I had only got to practice the break once during class and it was my first time attempting to do this break with my right hand. In the last tournament I participated in, I did a downward knife hand with my left hand because of my broken elbow. I'm actually very happy with how I did considering the lack of practice I had with it. The station was set up with 3 boards and I was able to get full points on two of them.
At the end of this round I was told I missed placing by two points!!!!!!!!!!!! That would have been so awesome to place in power breaking in the guys category!
The last event was my absolute worst but I did enjoy it and I tried my best. It was technique breaking. We had to do a flying side kick and a jumping front kick. The flying side kick is a mental game for me and the more I do it, the more I conquer myself. I was able to perform the kick on the first round really well. I felt like I hit the board very square on. Round two we had to jump a little farther and I didn't make it. What kills me about this is that I know I can do it with more practice and I enjoy it so much I want to do it again.
The jumping front kick I really thought I would be able to do but this is another one that I have done less than I would like....I got to try it twice before the tournament. I think with practice I could have a shot at this too. I just need to do it more.
All in all it turned out to be a good day and I learned so much about all of the events that I will carry forward.
Now it's time to heal up my shins. They're pretty bruised up from sparring and my left ankle is giving me problems again. Other than that, I'm feeling good and ready to go again.
The more competitions I do between now and Brazil, the more I will learn and grow, and the more prepared I will be to kick some ass.
Had my first bad nurse day yesterday. I had been taking care of a 400 gram (14 ouces) baby all week. Yesterday the baby decided to have a huge episode where it drops its heartrate and stops breathing. This is extremely common in premature babies becuase the CNS is still growing along with everything else so they "forget" to breathe and hence the heartrate drops. What's not usual is to have to bag the baby. Usually just some gentle stimulation will remind them that they are not in mom anymore and have to breathe on their own.
So my kiddo has this huge spell where it needed bagging. I went in when the isolette and started stimulating him as soon as the monitors started going off. I kept looking for the heart rate to come up and it didn't. It was down way too long.
Then I froze.
I don't know how long I froze but I panicked. I finally remember someone asking me if I want RT there and I said yes and I want the practitoner as well. Then my pod partner came over and jumped in and totally saved me and started bagging the baby for me.
I feel like I'm a terrible nurse because I froze and could have killed this baby due to my lack of action. It really makes me second guess what I do.
Please don't mistake this for me giving up. I LOVE what I do. It was just a HUGE blow to my confidence that I need to recover from. I also learned a lot of what not to do for next time.
Then it doesn't help that every time the charge comes around (this was not a permanent charge btw) she hounded me on how I need to ask for help.
Well yeah, I kinda figured that out and am already beating myself up over this, I don't need your help.
I'm very nervous about going back to work now. I know I can do it though. It was just a setback.
Today I got my braces on. I was supposed to get the upper and lowers on but it was determined that there is not enough room for the braces to clear my overbite so they put the uppers on and are going to get them moving and then I will get my lowers on.
I got them on this morning and was thinking that it wasn't so bad. Now it's 4:30 in the afternoon and I'm singing a totally different tune.
Ouch is all I can say! I tried to eat some Triscuits with sour cream (don't knock it til you try it, yum!) and it hurt so much when biting and trying to chew the Triscuits that I ate two and gave up and got a can of soup out because it was soft. So far the can of soup is still sitting there. I drank the juices off of it but am a little leery of trying to chew the veggies in there.
I took some ibuprophen before my appointment at the suggestion of my coworkers. I just took another dose now. I sure hope it helps.
If I don't touch my top and bottom teeth together I'm OK but if I accidently bump them, it's game over.
I'm going to see how I feel but I am planning on going to tae kwon do tonight. I don't know if I will spar or not. I got a mouthguard but I don't like the way it fits. It doesn't do much at all in the area of shock absorption which is the big issue with being hit and not getting a concussion. So now I am going to search the internet to see if I can find a good mouthguard for braces that I like.
Wish me luck.
Had a really awesome tae kwon do class tonight! I wish I could have sparred. Should find out late this week if I will be able to or if I'm going to have to take a break from contact for a while.
We did some drills using pads tonight and I paired up with one of the black belts. She really pushed me and I liked it! I feel successful in what I did and attempted. I've been struggling lately trying to get people to come at me faster so that I can have a challenge and improve. I've been feeling frustrated in that aspect for about a month now.
Tonight the black belt I worked with came at me at a nice good challenging pace and I loved it! Working with her is exactly what I have been looking for! Was I perfect? Heck no! No matter what rank you are in TKD, there is always room for improvement.
Did my skill grow? Definately!!! That is what I strive for! Every class I push myself to become faster and better than I was in the last class.
What people need to realize is that improvement doesn't happen overnight like we would like it to. We have to work at it. If I learn something new in one class and attempt to use that skill or do my best to improve my form on an existing skill, that is advancement to me. I know that if I stick with it, I will eventually reach my goal of improved form or landing that kick that I've been working on forever.
I remember when I was a white belt a year ago and couldn't land a back kick when someone was walking toward me to save my life (I could hardly land one standing still)! Tonight I totally nailed it! I need to work on getting faster.....having the person holding the pad run at me. Like I stated above, it's an improvement on an existing skill I'm going to work on. Hopefully in a year I will be able to look back to this day and see the improvement I've made through dedication.
Tomorrow is weigh in #4 at Weight Watchers. I've been slacking this week in weighing myself. I don't have any excuse as to why, I just haven't been. I'm a little nervous becuase I'm not too sure what to expect when I step on the scale tomorrow.
A little part of me is expecting either no change or a small, less than a pound, change just because of where I am at in my cycle. I've been feeling a little water logged these past few days........go figure.......I've been craving salt.
We shall see.
Night all! Be safe if you are getting snow!
Watch out Albuquerque Fit folks! Terie's back (but not as a coach)!!! Hahahahahaha!
It felt good to be out with the group again. I've sure missed all these people! I needed the break but I'm so ready to do this again.
Right now I have no race plans. I'm just running to run so there is no pressure either way to run more, harder, faster. I'm going to run what I run and that's how it goes.
I ran with the half marathon people today. I did 3 miles. That was enough. Any more and I think I would have been too tired. Can you believe that? Tired after only 3 miles?!?!?!?!?! How crazy is that?!?!?!?! Needless to say, I have to build my base back up before I think of doing anything big. Right now the only thing on the radar is Boulder Boulder over Memorial Day weekend. Even if I end up walking that, I'm perfectly OK with that. I'm just excited to be back.
I'm oficially signed up for the 10k program but they start at 2 miles so the plan right now is to follow the beginner HM program until they get to 6 miles wich will be in about a month and then I will evaluate from there how I feel and how things are going and make a decision on if I will continue with the half program or modify it to keep me in shape for a 10k.
The reason I'm not trying to push it is because running is for fun and to enjoy. Plus tae kwon do is still my primary sport. I LOVE it and if I let running take over, there will be no time for TKD which would be tragic.
Off to church I head now. I'm singing in the choir for the first time in about 6 months or so. This is going to be fun!
I can't believe I've been at Weight Watchers for only 3 weeks and have already lost 6.2 pounds! This really works!
Those of you who know me well know that I once let myself get up to around 235 pounds and have lost a lot of that on my own. It took me about 2 years to lose it all. I wonder what I would have done if I had taken on Weight Watchers back then! Before it took me about 2-3 months to lose 6 pounds.
I also tried using Sparkpeople last winter. I had success. I lost the same amount of weight that I have with Weight Watchers but it took me 8-9 weeks.
There is something to be said for finding a group to hold you accountable. The rewards are also very nice to get as well. I've been looking forward to getting my 5 pound sticker since I joined and I got it today (along with a bravo sticker)!! The support is so amazing and I really like the group leader. She's so motivating even though she's about 40 years older than I am (this is not an exaggeration).
I know I am over the average 1-2 pounds a week right now but I have a feeling it's going to slow down soon.
Week one -3.6
Week two -0.4
Week three -2.2!
Woot!
Maybe that is the pattern my body will follow.
Either way I am super happy with the results I've been seeing. I will take my weekly measurements tomorrow morning since I've already filled my stomach with my yummy dinner tonight.
This week I had two yummy splurges. One was a frozen pizza I made and ate however much of it I pleased. The second meal was at Sadie's. If you live in the Albuquerque area, you know how dangerous Sadie's can be. It's so yummy and they serve my favorite New Mexican food.
I tried at first to resist the chips n salsa but was too hungry and I gave in knowing I was having a splurge anyway. We did so good though in that we did not get a second basket of chips when they came around to ask us. Yay us!! Instead of ordering my typical chicken tacos (I usually order two tacos, one to eat there and one to take home for leftovers), I changed it up and ordered a chicken burrito instead. I still got double papas with red chile that of course came with cheese. I decided since I really wanted this splurge, I was going to eat as many of the papas as I wanted until my heart and taste buds were content. I made this decision since I didn't get a whole plate full like I would have with the tacos. There was about one cup worth of papas on the plate. Perfect portion to satisfy!
The burritos are pretty big that they serve so I menally broke it up into thirds and decided I was going to eat one third of it and then stop. Before I asked for a box to go, I asked Scott if he would eat the leftovers. He was a little shocked that I asked him because usually if he eats my leftovers before I get a chance to get at them, I'm not happy. This time I was happily offering them to him. He seemed hesitant at first, probably a lesson learned from before. :) Once he was sure I was 100% for real about it, he was on board and agreed if the burrito came home, he would eat it so I wouldn't be tempted.
That's what I got my Bravo! sticker for! :)
Work is still going well. I had to take a class today on sprituality. As if I weren't already bombarded by this through school, orientation, and continuum! It was so boring! Luckily we got out an hour early so I didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic.
The lady who taught this class was such and idiot though! She asked who the person was that works NBICU and I said it was me. She then proceeds to ask me if I know any cultural rituals around birth! I gave her the, trying not to be sarcastic answer aka biting my tounge....hard!, that we don't have anything to do with the birth of the babies, that is L&D (I had to point that one out to her since she she seemed to think I do L&D in NICU...eye roll), we just deal with the babies after they are born.
The person teaching the class is a seasoned RN. Wow is all I can say.
Tae kwon do is going well. Had a super awesome workout last night. I wish I could have sparred but I wasn't able to so I worked the bag using techniques we did in class earlier and I also practiced my test kicks and combinations that I like to use to see if I can add on to them for future use.
My speed has been increasing. I was surprised at how much faster my slide in turn kicks have gotten! I was so surprised that I had to do them several times in a row on each leg just to make sure it wasn't a fluke or something!
Have I mentioned how much I love TKD?????? :) Even after almost a year, I'm loving it. Probably even more than when I started!!!!!
I'm feeling a little nervous about stepping on the scale at my meeting tomorrow. I really hope I have lost. I've been tracking fairly well. The only thing I haven't tracked was last nights meal out at Rudy's. I had 10 points left to use and I ordered a quarte pound of turkey and a baked potato. Well within my 10 points. For a bedtime snack last night I had a can of drained and rinsed mandarin oranges, 0 points and super yummy.
I've been weighing myself throughout the week and have seen about a half pound loss on my scale at home. I went to weigh myself this morning and forgot to do it before I took my morning pills with a huge glass of water. Doh! I won't weigh again until my meeting at noon.
I feel I've done a pretty good job with tracking everything I put into my mouth, no matter how healthy or unhealthy it is. I've also reminded myself to have a treat every now and then.
My "big" meal out this week was at Dion's. I ordered a turkey sub on wheat. I wasn't super hungry going in so it was really easy to only eat half of it (I ordered the 6") and about half of the chips that came with it. I'm very proud of myself for that. It would have been really easy to eat the whole thing and then some.
That's been the biggest challenge for me so far. Not letting myself get too hungry. Last week I was terrible at it. This week has been much much better. Every once in a while I will feel those "overhungry pangs" but I've really been trying to keep on top of it. It makes it easier to make healthier choices and if I know I shouldn't eat all of something, it makes it easier to stick to that plan.
I called the orthodontist this morning to make my second appointment to get braces put on. I thought they were going to put them on at the appointment but it doesn't sound like it. At least I have the ball rolling on it. They called this a records appointment. I know they are going to take molds of my mouth.
As nervous as I am about it, I really hope that they put the braces on that same day as well. I can't believe I'm this nervous! I really wonder how it's going to change the way I look with them on and how it's going to feel. I'm not worried about the pain at all. Nothing a little Tylenol can't help. That and some cold food or ice water to numb it (probably ice water for me).
Our new furniture should be here today. It will be nice to be rid of our old furniture. Especially since the couch is broken.
TKD is going alright. We've been doing a lot of sparring lately. A lot. I'm ready for a break. Just one week off would be nice and then we can get back to it. Last Wednesday I had a terrible day. I just couldn't think straight and wasn't throwing and landing things like I have been doing. I'm pretty sure it's a mental thing.
Sparring, for me, is mentally taxing because it's comparable to a game of chess. It's a game of strategy so you are constantly watching cues from your opponent and looking for the right time to attack. When it's right, you just know it and go for it. I got some good rushes in but I wasn't happy with what I did otherwise. I really hope tonight goes better. I have some frustration I need to get out.
I'm pretty excited! I had my weekly weigh in yesterday with WW. I was surprised at how nervous I was about going! I'm used to weighing myself 2-3 times a week but when the weigh-in counts, it felt different. It shouldn't have. But it did.
It was really awesome to see the face of the person who weighed me in. She smiled at me real big and was very happy and proud. I had lost 3.6 pounds in one week!
I knew I had lost because of tracking my weight at home. I wasn't expecting it to be that much though. I was expecting around 2 pounds so needless to say I was super super happy.
I need to take some before and after pics. I plan on doing that today.
The thing need to be careful of now is to not expect this every week. Weeks like this, in real life, are the exception, not the rule.
I would be thrilled with a 1.5 or 2 pound loss next week. That would give my my 5 pound sticker in two weeks. If that's realistic or not, we shall see.
That's the other key to success in weight loss. One needs to realize that there will be ups and downs and we have to take the highs with the lows.
I made a goal this week of having fresh fruit with my breakfast. So far I haven't done that. I am planning on having an apple with peanut butter for my snack today. Our group leader challenged us this week to make 10 meals of just power foods. I'd like to do that as well. I know two goals can be quite lofty. I'm going to try my best. If I don't reach one, then it will be my one and only goal for next week.
Last week I used all of my activity points (I have it set up to use those first) and had 35 "bonus" points left over. I hope to do the same thing this week.
I saw this on a message board that I like to hang out on and it just stuck.
This is how I feel as a new nurse. I've had to fake my confidence. It's still not all there because there is so much I don't know about but it's getting there. I'm able to speak to parents with more knowledge in my arsenal which also makes me more confident in what I'm telling them and hopefully that will help them have confidence in me as I take care of their tiny one.
I've been taking care of more chronic kids lately and am ready to go back to higher acuity.
That's what I like about working where I do. Yes it is a critical care environment but we really see different spectrums of care from the super critically ill 1:1 patient to our more chronic kids who still need our care because things can go wrong very quickly, of course, but are pretty stable on the grand scheme of things.
I think I would get burnt out if we had all super critical kids all the time or if we had more of the chronic type all the time. The variety keeps me thinking in different ways and I really appreciate that.
Over the past two weeks I've had two orthodontic consulatations for braces. I'm super exctied to be able to get them. I'm amazed at the cost difference between the two different docs I visited. They both offered the same treatment in the same amount of time. There was about a 1500-2000 dollar difference though.
It seems the only difference between the two was the office. Both of their before and after pictures looked absolutely fantastic. Nice neat and precise work. Dr #1 has a brand new office which is a 5 minute drive from my house. It is very nice but to the point. Not a lot of extras which is just fine for me.
Dr #2's office was amazing. It was very modern and inviting. There was pretty awesome music being played in the reception area. They had a tray of cookies out for patients, two different sinks you could use to brush your teeth. The sinks were really neat looking, something like you would see in a nice custom built home. There was a pretty big tropical fish tank in the office built into the wall. Outside the consultation room, there were actually video games like you would see in an arcade! In a dentists office!!!!!!
Can you guess which dentist/orthodontist charged more???? Yeah, nuff said.
I did like Dr #2 but I cannot justify spending that much more. If it were only a $500 difference, I could totally justify going to Dr #2 if I had wanted too.
As an adult it was kind of rediculous to me to see arcade games in his office. The whole thing seemed so over the top that I wonder if he's trying to make up for something or if he's really that popular and successful. It was very "showy" to me.
I go for my second weigh in with Weight Watchers tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if I've lost anything. I think I have.
I weigh myself at home pretty regularly and the past several times I've weighed myself, the scale has been reading 2-2.5 pounds lighter. I hope the WW scales pick up the same thing. I'm not tracking my weight at home on anything because it's the weigh in at WW that counts toward my goal.
I admit I have a hard time sticking to my daily points allowance. The good news is that I'm tracking everything that has been going into my mouth. That has made a difference in my food choices. I also earn a lot of activity points from working out so I only used 15 of my weekly allowance points on top of using all my activity points. I'm very happy about that.
I also wear a pedometer at work that calcualtes points as well so I'm getting activity points every day I'm at work. I really like that a lot.
I've been wanting to lose these last 20 pounds for way too long now and finally decided it is time to do it. I joined Weight Watchers.
I've only been tracking for a few days and had my first weigh in/meeting last night. I like the environmen! The meeting leader's name is Keri (or however she spells it) and she seems to be very realistic and fun.
I thought walking in there that I would be the only younger person in there. I was wrong! Granted, it IS mostly older women in there but it's nicely sprinkled with those of us without grey hair as well.
Last night someone recieved their lifetime membership. She lost 70 pounds and some change in 10 months! She looked so good. It was inspiring seeing that.
They also hand out little "rewards" as you lose. For every 5 pounds you lose, they give you a sticker that you can put wherever you like. I plan on putting mine in my weight tracker as a reminder of my hard work. Then you get rewards for losing 5% of your body weight (my first goal), 10% (my second goal), and then you get a reward for reaching your goal. If I remember right, once you stay at your goal for 6 weeks, then you can become a lifetime member.
What I like about this program (not having done the old one ever...I lost my first 70lbs on my own) is that they point out what they call power foods, I call them clean foods. They tell us it's "the most bang for our buck." I love that they are trying to get people to eat more healthy food like that.
Fruits and most veggies are also zero points!!! I've always liked eating those but now that I'm tracking points, it's that little extra incentive to eat even more. Last night, for example, I had eaten at Chick-fil-a for dinner. I ordered a grilled chicken and fries, yes I tracked it. That took up the last of my points for the day plus a few extra. I was hungry last night before bed but didn't want to add any more extra points than I already did so instead of snacking on triscuits, I opened up a can of fruit and then went to bed. It was nice that I got to eat and didn't have to add any more points to my daily total.
Let's be real about this though. Weight Watchers is nothing special or any different than eating good and reducing calories. What is different from say, sparkpeople.com is the support and extra stuff that you get.
I was searching for quick meal ideas for breakfast and lunch for when I work because that is really hard for me. I found a place on the online tools that has quick meal ideas and it's right up my ally! They're quick, easy, and something that I can put together before I go to work.
It seems that everything I was lacking on sparkpeople.com has been included in WW (so far).
I also like the idea of weekly meetings. It gives me a little extra edge to know that someone is going to be holdin me accountable for what I put into my mouth for a week. I can't wait until I get to put my first 5lb's lost sticker on my weight tracker.
I also like the fact that I know I will have support to help me lose weight after I have a baby. They don't want you on the program while pregnant, understandably so. What they do is put your membership on hold and you go back when you get clearance from your Dr. One of my fears has been weight gain with pregnancy and it really eases a lot of that anxiety knowing that I will have something to look forward to to help me with that when it's over.
Wish me luck. I think I've made a good decision.
So I passed my testing although it could have gone much better.
I made silly mistakes that I don't normally make in my patterns. I messed up on the second and fourth patterns. Little mistakes but still. They're not mistakes that I make. It's amazing at how being sick messes with your concentration.
I went in with that foggy head feeling which is never good. My saving grace is that at that point, I thought I was starting to clear up. I wasn't coughing and my nose had stopped running for a bit.
We started with patterns. They weren't my best, as stated above. I feel alirght about them though. As we were starting our patterns Mike started to give me a hard time about something and then Mr T (Michael) jumped in on it. It was a good time. It gave me an idea for a new comeback. haha!
Next up were our kicks. This is where I was really starting to know that I wasn't at my best. I was giving it all I had to make them look good. Afterward I was talking to my husband and he said it looked like I was just hopping instead of jumping. While I was doing the kicks it felt to me like I should be jumping. I had a couple of good 180 back kicks in there. The rest were just meh. They didn't feel as good and smooth as they typically did for me. I know I'm capable of much better.
After this we broke out into several different areas. First up was splits for me. I ended up being right where I thought I would be. I had made a goal at my last testing to get to 180 degrees on the machine. I made it to 170 which is actually not as far as I had gone on my last test. Needless to say, I'm still working on that goal. Last testing I was at 172.5-ish.
Required knowledge was next. No worries here.
Last up out of this part of testing was breaking. I really enjoy breaking. A lot. My breaks were a jump turn kick and an outward knife hand. This was the only area I felt confident in yesterday. I was able to perform both breaks on the first try. My jumping turn kick was either high or low. I'm not sure because I didn't look to see how the boards landed when I broke them. I'm wondering if I went a little high from where I measured. The outward knife hand went really well. That one I broke straight down the middle and across the knot in the board.
We all regrouped one last time to do our pushups, situps, and squats. I was nervous about this one because of the pushups. I wasn't worried about getting them all in, what I was worried about was going down far enough. I feel like I'm getting better and stronger at them but still have some room to improve. One thing I can say is that I'm thankful for all of the pushups I've been doing while at work. They felt easier this time around. I had to do 35 of each in 2 minutes. It was close on the pushups because I was trying my hardest to go down as far as I could. I heard the 30 second buzzer go off and just did 5 real quick to make sure I got them in. They were 5 really crappy ones but I got it done.
I surprised myself on situps. At the last testing I was required to do 30 and I remember just barely making it over that in 2 minutes. This time I did 44!! My goal for next testing will be to do 50+ in two minutes.
Squats went OK. Apparently I had a real odd form going on them. Not surprising since I wasn't feeling well. I don't even know what I was doing but I remember people around me telling me to not bend my back. I'm wondering if I was arching it or something.
All in all I did pass. I could have done better if I weren't sick so I'm not fully satisfied with this round of testing. The good part of it is that I gave myself a lot of room to improve for when I go for my blue belt so I will have to excuse to show progress.
Now this cold can go away any time.
I was not the creative one who came up with these. I found this in a post on http://www.allnurses.com/.
ENJOY!!!
A couple of us felt the need to change the lyrics to some Christmas Song Favorites---hope you enjoy!
(To the tune of Oh Christmas Tree)
Oh CBI, Oh CBI, how rapidly you're running!
Oh CBI, Oh CBI, how rapidly you're running!
The foley still is cherry red...
The patient thinks he's nearly dead...
Oh CBI, Oh CBI, When will you stop your clotting!
(To the Tune of Deck the Halls)
Wreck the halls with urine & stool!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Clean the patient like a fool
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Get the rectal tubes a-flowing...
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Seems like everybody's going!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
(To the tune of Winter Wonderland)
Call light ring
No one's listening
Someone screams
"Stop his *******!"
It's normal at night
To cry out "All RIGHT!"
Working in a midnight wonderland.
Patients Yell
Gimme Pain Meds
What's that smell?
It's the same bed!
You're running the halls
Cuz everyone calls
Working in midnight wonderland.
In the middle there will be a Code Blue
Then we found out that he's a DNR
We'll have fun explaining all of this to
The Person who's in charge of all of us!
Later on, he'll expire
Then we'll call the house doctor
Who sleeps in his room
Don't call him TOO soon!
Working in a midnight wonderland!!
(To the tune of I'll Be Home for Christmas)
I'll be home on Christmas
Don't you dare call me!
I don't care
If no one's there
It's my day to be free
Christmas Eve I'm working
'Til the sun comes up!
And I'll be home on Christmas
So sooorrry---touch luck!!!!
And finally...
(To the tune of Silver Bells)
Poopy Bedpans
Smelly Trash Cans
Dressed in bright yellow gowns
In the air it's a feeling of C-diff....
Patients crapping
Nurses Laughing
Clean up bile after bile
And in all nurses' stations you'll hear.....
Saggy B*alls
Saggy B*alls
It's time for scrotal support!!
Ringaling
Hold up that thing
Soon they will be on the floor!!!!
(To the tune of The Dreidel Song)
We have a vial of Haldol
We use it every day
And if our patients go crazy
You'll surely hear us say
OHHHH Haldol Haldol Haldol
We give to you for sleep!
Haldol Haldol Haldol
You will not make a peep!!
Hope you got a kick outta this....we had so much fun writing these!!!
Merry Christmas Everybody!!!
I was told this morning by the PA I went to see that I am resilient (sp?). I guess I should take that as a compliment but quite honestly, I can't imagine living my life any other way than that which I have chosen. It's just me. Who I am. What I do.
I'd like to take a moment to say how thankful I am for where I am in life right now. Life isn't perfect but I'm pretty happy with where I am at. I feel very thankful for my wonderful job and everything else I have worked so hard for. I'm thankful that I am going back to school in January with my end goal being my MSN. I'm thankful that we are where we are financially, it hasn't always been this way. I'm really happy that my body is holding up through all the stuff I put it through with my different exercise endeavors.
That being said, none of this happened by chance. I've had to be strong to stick to my goals. I wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for the support I've had from my husband, friends, and God (in no particular order).
Yesterday at work I got my butt kicked. I wouldn't say it was a bad day, just busy for me. I had a pretty alright assignment and was also 2nd admit. The assignment I had was totally appropriate as an admission assignment. What threw me is that we got our first admit yesterday at about 9:30 or so and about 15 minutes after that baby arrived on the unit, the team was called over to another delivery. It was a term c-section so I wasn't expecting to get anything. Then I realized they were over there for quite some time for a term secion so I got to thinking I was going to be getting this baby. Term babies that come to us scare me because we don't typically get term babies unless there is something wrong with them such as congenital diaphramatic hernia (we've has a run on these lately) or if they have severe respiratory distress from things such as meconium aspiration.
This kiddo had niether of these. Let me clarify that a litte bit more. The baby did have respiratory distress but not from meconium aspiration. My guess is either from having a low H/H or TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn--common with sections becuase the secretions are not being squeezed out of the lungs) or a combination of both.
It was amazing how white this baby was when it came to us. The parents are of the darker skinned variety and this baby was more white than the whitest white person I know.
This admit ended up being more sick than the first admit which we expected would be super sick and wasn't.
So we did the typical lab draws and all that stuff. Had to give a bolus right off the bat and then another bolus after that. Then they ordered blood to be given.
This was a new experience for me. I never had the opportunity to give blood on orientation and since I've been off, the opportunity just has not come up for me. It wasn't that bad. We had to double verify the blood, double check the orders (again 2 RN's involved) and then prime the tubing. We use special tubing for the blood but it's different that giving it to adults. There is no normal sailine carrier that goes with it. It's just the blood which was different for me. The only time normal sailine went in was when the line was flushed. There was still the usual charting. I charted every 15 minutes for the first hour and then every half hour after that until the blood was done (it goes in over 4 hours).
I am feeling more comfortable at work but I still have so much to learn! I've been there for 7 months now but I feel like I'm still trying to find my feet.
What I'd really like to make as a goal for next year is to start doing flex and going to deliveries. I'm going to talk to my charge nurse about that and see what she has to say.
I'm so excited about going back to school in January. I got an email from my director saying that I can sign up for my CAP III. CAP is basically an increase in pay grade for things like education and certifications.
I'm a little confused because I was asking about this earlier and was told I wouldn't be eligible until I start the actual BSN courses. Right now I'm taking the last of the prereq's required for the BSN. I need to go talk to her about it. Not that I'm complaining that they want to give me more money, I just want to clarify everything so that I don't get in trouble for anything.
Tae Kwon Do testing is on Saturday. The husband is able to come and I'm so excited for him to be able to see what we do. I can't wait! I feel very ready for this!
In class on Monday we were doing test review and another green belt and myself were working on our patterns. Mike came over and was watching me do the last half of my pattern. It made me so nervous that he was watching!!!! I lost my concentration for a bit but got it back. He told me my pattern is looking good, I just need to work on my sine wave on the move in the pattern right before the side kick. I will be working on that tonight.
How sad that this is the most creative title I can come up with right now?
Things are going good. For the first time in my life I was able to do the full boat pose without having to hold onto my legs. It wasn't that I ever lacked the core control to be able to do it, it was that I lacked the strength in my legs to be able to hold them straight. I took yoga last week and bingo! I did it! Not only did I do the full boat pose but I was able to go from low boat post up to full boat pose!
Tae Kwon Do is going well. We have belt testing on Saturday and I'm very excited! This is the hardest I've had to work for a new belt yet! My current pattern, Won-Hyo is the first pattern I've had to do with a side kick in it. That has been a huge challenge for me balance wise. I've been working on my balance and kicking at least 4 times a week on top of going to class just to get it down. I'm a total type A personality. Can you tell?
I've been noticing more improvement lately as well. It's so encouraging when I can feel it myself. It gives me such a sense of accomplishment, like all the time I've been putting into it is totally worth it.
I have admittedly slacked off on my pushups though. I'm a little nervous about doing them for my testing. I have to do 35 in 2 minutes. I was able to get signed off on them which means that I'm doing them but I need to be able to get more range of motion (go deeper). So what I've done is gone back to doing them on my knees, 40 at a time, making sure I go deeper into it to train my muscles and once I get that down I will go back to doing them on my toes outside of class. Of course during class and when doing my warmups, I'm doing them on my toes like I should.
Work has been good. Last week I had my first 1:1 assignment. It was really scary! It was very fast paced and things just kept happening one after another. I ran my butt off that day more than I would do with a regular 2:1 assignment. When I first came on shift I had to start a Versed drip, give a normal sailine bolus, and give two rescue doses of Versed and fentanyl, then one more normal sailine bolus. All within the first 30 minutes of my shift this was ordered. At the end of the day I really enjoyed having a 1:1 but am glad that I get a nice mix of things as well becasue if I had to do that day in and day out, I think I would get real tired of it real quick.
I'm still trying to figure out the dynamic at work. It seems that the same people keep getting the same assignments. I know it's probably wasting my time but I'm just trying to figure out why. In some cases I know it's because certain people really like taking care of our long term kids. I work the end of the week and there is definately a "core" group there that has been working together for quite some time. I think that has a lot to do with it.
I signed up to take an online class next semester at CNM. I'm taking a humanities class called Pop Culture and Identity. I'm taking this because the other classes I was trying to get into were full already. I'm really hoping that UNM will accept this as a humanities elective but if they don't, at least I'll be taking a class that sounds very interesting.
I'm hoping to start my BSN in the fall. I'm going to talk to advisers there and see if I can also take some core MSN classes as well that way when I decide for sure on my MSN route (if I decide to do it at UNM) I'll have the basics out of the way and will be able to just jump right in to the core classes. It works out because either way I'm getting my masters. That fact is not in question at all, never has been. What is in question is the specialty. I'm still throwing several specialties around. I will have it nailed down by the time I get to starting my master's though. It's just that I am such a new nurse and need a little more time on the floor to see where my heart really is.
One thing that upsets me is the tuition that UNM charges for the nursing program! The tuition for the regular RN-BSN is over $300 per credit hour! How rediculous is that?!?!?!?! The real kicker is that it's still cheaper than going to another school because other school require more classes, will take longer, blah blah blah. I emailed the advisor asking her why the tuition was so much more. Of course I didn't get a good answer. It basically came out to "because we can". Pffttt!
The worst part of it is that my work will ONLY reimburse me the REGULAR tuition rate so I'm going to have to pay out of pocket for some of my BSN. That was totally NOT in the game plan!
What can I really do about it though? It is what it is. I just have to bite the bullet and take one for the team.
Better late than never.
Thankful.
I am thankful for this whole year. The ups, the downs. The good. The bad. The ugly. The painful.
Most of all I'm thankful for the healthy body that I have worked so hard for. There is nothing better than having the freedom to move freely and pain free. My body has been through the ringer so far this year with a broken bone and two (yes two!) sprained ankles (at the same time to boot! luckily not severe!). It has endured many hits and healed from many bruises. Here's to many more to come! But we can leave out the breaks and sprains please.
I'm thankful for my legs. My legs have carried me though a lot this year. They have run, kicked, cycled, and pushed me through so much.
I'm thankful for flexibility. If it weren't for flexibility I would be able to move like I do. I also have to thank strength here as well since they both go together. If I didn't have the strength and flexibility I've worked so hard for I wouldn't be able to kick and move like I do.
I'm thankful for the job that found me so quickly after graduation this year and all the hard working dedicated people I've gotten the privelage to know through this.
I'm thankful that I'm aware that my job is my job and does not define me as a person. I'm still me and haven't lost that to anything.
I'm thankful for all the people in my life, new friends and old. Of course I'm thankful for my husband for many many reasons.
I'm thankful that I've been able to stay strong through the changes that have happened this year. The Lord knows it hasn't been easy. He's heard ALL about it, many many times!!!!!
On that note, I'm thankful for my relationship with God. If it weren't for Him, I would have crumbled long long ago.
I'm thankful for my bike, aka Speedy. It's pretty awesome.
I'm thankful to have a decent solid roof over my head so I can sleep well at night and not have to worry. We've worked very hard these past few years while I was in school to keep it.
This list could go on and on but I hope you get the jist of it. There are so many things in life to be thankful for that I couldn't possibly list them all here. So to sum things all up, I'm thankful to be alive and able to live the life that I live surrounded by the people that I know.
Tucson went off without a hitch. I feel good saying that now that everyone is safe at home.
As I had written earlier, the ride down was uneventful for the most part. I spent the first 2-ish hours of that one trying not to be sick but when we stopped in Socorro and ate, I felt better after that so I must have been hungry. I hope.
We woke up race day at about 0615 to get all of our stuff ready and to eat some breakfast at the hotel at 7. It was so nice to go to a race and be able to eat a nice good breakfast before. All the running races I've done have been so early that I haven't been able to do that on the road.
We got all of us loaded up and headed to the 80 mile start for the guys. It was actally nice and easy to find a spot to park to drop them off. They were so calm about the whole thing. I got a picture of them and I have to laugh when I see it. Not one of them are smiling. They are all just glaring and so solemn.
Got the guys dropped off and then I headed over to my start. I started at 1030 (I think). Either way I had about an hour and a half between the time that I dropped them off until I started to roll.
I got to the parking lot and just took my time getting ready. I noticed that my phone battery was about halfway gone already so I plugged my phone into my car and was listening to channel 24 on my Sirius radio to get myself going. There was a nice couple next to me getting ready at the same time so we struck up some conversation about Albuquerque. The lady next to me had run Duke City a few years back (I don't know if she did the full or the half) so we talked about that for a while.
After I got tired of just putzing around the car, I hopped on the bike and made my way down to the start line and lined up. I debated using the bathroom there but luckily there was a bathroom with a flushing toilet that apparently not many people in the parking lot knew about. I'm so glad I used that one before I headed down. I made sure to stuff some extra toilet paper in my pocket just in case the porta pots on the route ran out of it like I've experienced in running races.
I lined up in the front half or third, it was hard to tell how many people were behind me, at the advice of the guys. It worked out well. The bad part is that I had an hour before the race started so I just sat on my bike, not on the seat but on the top tube, and hung out. There was a girl going around in the crowd taking pre race pictures of people and she came up and asked me if she could take my picture and I told her sure. Then she looked at me and told me that I'm so calm. All I could think is what other way is there to be? I'm not about to be jumping around and moving all about wasting energy I knew I was going to need out on the course.
Also as I was lining up I had a freakout moment. I was looking around at everyone as they were lining up and talking to their friends and I suddenly felt totally out of my league. The feeling hit me so hard that I almost bagged it. I didn't feel like I belonged there at all.
Then another lady lined up next to me and we struck up some conversation. That was nice. She had done the race before and we were talking about it. I couldn't help but think she looked JUST like my sister. I never caught her name but I did know she was from Phoenix. I also remember she had on a really cool looking jersey with matching shorts.
Finally it's time to roll. Yay! It only took me a minute to cross the chip mat and I was off. The wind was already starting to pick up before we started and by the time we got going, it was going as well. We started off on what felt like a slight downhill and I was going at about 20-25mph. It felt so good!
The wash/river crossing was about 4 miles in so just as I'm getting warmed up and ready to go, it's time to get off the bike and hike it for 1/3 mile. It sure felt longer than that! The portapots didn't have much of a line so I decided that would be a good spot to use them. I was in and out. It was nice. Toward the end of the wash was an aid station so I hit up a huge glass of water and grabbed a pretzel on my way out.
I had so much crap in my shoes that as soon as I hit pavement, I pulled off to the side and dumped the river out of them. There was so much sand and rocks in there that I never thought I would get it all out.
What I wasn't prepared for was the hill going out of this neighborhood. It was a fairly short hill but it went up in three chunks. The first two chunks were alright but the last part of the hill, I found out later, was at an 18% grade! It was rediculous! I saw so many people walking their bikes up and stubborn me was determined to NOT do that so I stood up and just pounded out that last little bit. There was no way I would have made it if I wouldn't have stood on it. I was so proud of myself for not getting off the bike and walking it.
The ride for the next 20 miles was uneventful for the most part. I stopped at the firestation aid station expecting something more than the fruit and water becasue I heard that last year it was really good. Nope. Fruit and water. But that's OK. I ate some bananna and took more water that I needed anyway.
As I was entering that station, an ambulance was going by and we all thought it was for a biker. Of course we didn't want that to be the case but it crossed all our minds. Luckily we never saw an amulance on the course but apparently there was a wreck somewhere farther up that had traffic all backed up so a big group of us got stopped at a stoplight for what felt like an eternity because of it.
My one priority goal was to make it past the 40 mile start before they got going so I wouldn't get stopped. I missed that by like 30 seconds! I was one of the first ones in line that were stopped. I was so pissed!!!!!! That ment that I would be spending the next 10-15 miles playing dodge-bike against the slower 40 milers. Grrrrrrrrr...... I was not a happy friendly rider at this point.
There were quite a few of us trying to pass the 40 milers on the left and couldn't get by. There would be noone to their right and we would say left and they would just stay there. Some of them even moved left. Idiots! I'm surprised I got out of that cluster _ _ _ _ without shoulder checking someone. It sucked.
After that cleared out it was alright. That part of the race went by so fast for me that I don't remember much from it. I do know that I skipped several aid stations through here because they were super croweded and I wasn't in the mood to play dodge bike again with the slower 40 milers, most of whom were stopping at this first station anyway.
I stopped at an aid station that was at the bottom of a most awesome hill that I made sweet time down. As soon as I left this aid station a train was coming across so I got stuck by the train. If I had not stopped at that aid station, I would have missed the train but it was one that I had to stop at because I needed another bottle of the Hammer stuff that I was using for the majority of my calories during the race. Then of course it was back to dodge bike.
What I remember next is being on what felt like a frontage road for a short time and then turning west to go around some hills. This part was so nice and peaceful. It was a nice two lane road that I saw zero cars on and the scenery was beautiful!
Then we turn a corner and start up a pretty good hill. The hill itself wouldn't have been so bad but this road was from hell!! It was so bumpy and inefficient that I was cussing it the whole way up. It felt like it was never going to end. To those that have ridden the road behind Riverpoint, it felt like that but worse. Then we topped the hill and thought that it was over but for most of the downhill it was the same. I was never so happy to see smooth road than after that. And boy was it smooth road! It was like riding on butter! It was nice and wide with a huge bike lane plus two lanes of traffic only one of which was really being used because those of us who were passing others were out in the first traffic lane.
Soon after that we turned on to the frontage road, aka the road from hell. I was expecting to make good time down this road becasue I thought it was flat. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me, this was the absolute WORST part of the whole race. It was nice because we had the whole road to ourselves but I was hurting so bad at this point that it didn't matter. It just plain sucked and I don't care if I ever see this road again.
Keep in mind that during the whole race we were fighting 15-20mph sustained winds either in our faces or, as was the case most of the time, coming from the side.
I didn't think this frontage road was ever going to end. It was about 10-15 miles we were on this road and we had a cross wind coming from the right. At mile 51, I look down at my computer and suddenly smell sewage. I looked to my right and what do you know, there is a lovely sewage plant of which the wind is blowing perfectly across and into us. I just about puked it stunk so bad.
I remember being so mad on this road because it was climbing the whole way and I was only doing about 13-14mph. I don't know why but I was so mad that I was climbing a hill and only going that fast. I wanted to go faster and just get this done and over with at this point. I don't think it would have mattered if it were flat and I were going 20mph, I think I still would have been upset just because I wasn't finished.
I equate this part of the course as being equal to the last 10k of a marathon. My legs felt fine but other parts of me hurt so badly and I wanted nothing more than to be done. I put on my determination cap and just did it. I knew that if I stopped, I wasn't getting back on the bike so I just put the nose to the grindstone and pounded out that last bit.
My feet really hurt me bad at this point, when I finished and took of my shoes, I had so many hot spots on my feet it was no wonder. New shoes are definately in the works for me. No doubt about it.
My hands were pretty much numb at this point and there was not one comfortable spot I could find to put them. Worst of all was my neck. It hurt so bad I wanted to cry but I couldn't because I just wanted this done so badly. I wasn't giving up at this point.
I had never felt pain like that in my life anywhere in my back.
Finally we turned off the frontage road and the crowds started to pick up. I had asked at the last stoplight that I got caught at how much longer we had on this road and one guy told me 2 miles and the other said 1.5. That helped get my spirits up knowing that this torture was almost over.
I had never felt so much relief as when we turned off that frontage road. It was so nice to have crowds again cheering for us and then I hear the announcer and just lost it. We made one left turn off the road and I saw that finish line and started to cry. I didn't let myelf get too teary eyed because I still needed to see where I was going but the sense of relief that came across me was just overwhelming. It reminded me of crossing the finish line of my first half marathon. It was really awesome.
I remember rolling across the chip mats, seeing some military guy there marking my bib and then someone taking the chip off my ankle and going through the rest of the finish chute.
I was diappointed with the end. I'm used to marathon finishes with the finishers corral and TONS of food and water available. I had to walk for what felt like an eternity to find any water and even then I saw a jug of water sitting on a table and just helped myself. The medals were all the way at the other end of the plaza as well. There really could be a lot of room for improvement there. The food I was finally able to get, I had to pay for from a vendor. Very disappointing. It was not recovery friendly at all.
The good part of the end was the massages though. There were a ton of massage talbes out there and available so the wait was quite minimal given the circumstances. That was super nice so I got a good massage. The guy worked on me for a good 20-25 minutes. It was amazing!
That night we went to a brewery place called Nimbus. It was alright. It would have been better probably if I wasn't so exhausted but they had the right postrace food so it worked.
Sleeping that night was terrible because of my back. It was basically nonexistent.
Luckily I'm heading to the chiro here soon to get myself straightened back out. Two days later my upper back still hurts like mad no matter what I do.
All in all it WAS a good race. I probably would have been in a better mood if it weren't for the wind I was fighting the whole way.
My actual ride time was 4:45:06 with an average of 14mph, much much faster than I thought I would do. I was expecting about 12.5mph average on my computer.
My chip time was 5:11:xx. For an average of 12.1 I believe.
I got a message on my facebook a little later that night from Randy telling me that my chip pace was faster than the guys.
I still haven't let them live that down.
The ride down to Tucson was uneventful. I do feel that I should get a medal for having rode in the back seat for as long as I did. That was hard for me. Luckily I had a good book and almost finished it. I'm currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It starts off slow but man it really picked up!
Yesterday we hit up the expo when we got here. It was alright. Nothing like going to a running expo. There weren't a whole lot of deals going on. I did get three pairs of PI socks for $15, some t-shirts, an even jersey, and a pair of sunglasses since I left mine at home. :(
This morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast here at the hotel. After we finished that up, we went for a late morning ride. We did about 16-17 miles. Just enough to work out the cobwebs. It was really nice. Started to get hot near the end but what more can you expect when the temps are supposed to top out at 80-something?
Now we're back at the hotel room taking showers and then we are heading out to In and Out burger for some lunch and then some sight seeing. I'm really hoping to see either the Biosphere 2 or the big wildlife refuge that they have here. It would also be nice to do some shopping but I doubt that will happen since I'm the only girl here and will easily be outruled on that one.
I'm very impressed with the bike trails here in Tucson. They are very well maintained with water fountains in the shade every few miles. They also link up very nicely if you want to go somewhere specific, unlike Albuquerque.
We went to Tri Sports last night as well. It wasn't as big as I had imagined but I was in LOVE with all the tri stuff that they had. Within 10 minutes of being in the store I had found about 4 different tri suits that I wanted to buy. I bought a pair of paddles there. I'm hoping that will give me some incentive to get back into the pool. It's been a long time since I've been swimming. It's probably time to buy a new swimsuit as well.
We also ate a Joe's Crab Shack last night. I totally heart that place! I wish Albuquerque had one of those! Even though I can't eat fish, they have some super awesome shrimp and margaritas in a mason jar that we got to keep the jar. Yum!
Tucson is very much like Albuquerque in some ways. They're about the same size. Tucson has mountains that surround all but the southern half of town. It's really pretty here. I also like the palm trees and the seguaro (spelling?) cacti that are everywhere. The streets are nice and clean and the businesses, for the most part, have really nice landscaping (unlike Albuquerque).
I haven't seen the really nice part of town yet. So far the houses look like Albuquerque. I'm guessing that the nicer part of town, like home, will have more of the adobe style houses. It's not bad. I'm not convinced that I would want to live here yet because of the heat but all in all, it looks like a nice place to live, work, and play.
I had great intentions for today. None of them happened except for laundry and dishes. I feel like such a slug!
I really wanted to go to the gym today but time got away from me, thank you computer. I don't like it when this happens. It makes me feel terrible since I didn't use my body in the way it's made to be used.
The Tucson ride is coming up this Saturday. I'm not too sure what to think of it right now. I'm the only girl going down right now and I feel like and extra tag-along. I'm not really sure that I belong. I really hope I enjoy my time there. I just feel very ackward.
I'm looking forward to going to Tucson becasue I have never been there. It's also been quite a while since I've gone out of town so it's time. I'm just dying to go somewhere other than here. I'm just diappointed.
I'm bummed that I'm missing TKD all next week. If I'm not careful, I may start to go postal without getting my stress release. I've been looking for a school to try and see if I can take a class there. I've found one that says they are ITF. I'm thinking of contacting them and seeing if they would let me come. At least that way I will be able to work out my frustrations. Lord knows I have a lot of them right now.
I'm thinking I need to start looking for a tri to do to give myself some motivation to get out and train on days that there is no TKD. I keep talking to myself about going to swim because it's another sport I really enjoy but for some reason I've just not made it. I really want to go. I think when I get back from Tucson, I'm going to make myself go that Monday. For recovery, you know. :)
This past week was the worst week I have had at work so far. All three days were full of stress for me. The first two days was becasue of social issues surrounding a kid I was taking care of and the second day just started off terrible.
Our computer system went out. It wasn't just our hospital, it was nationwide. I have never paper charted like this before and it just totally threw me for a loop. I depend so much on computers. I felt like I should be a character in the book Who Moved My Cheese. My routine was just all thrown off. I didn't know what meds I had due when. Everything was late and I was just behind the 8 ball all day.
We have to change out clear fluids on days and I typically do this in the afternoon. I kept looking for my fluids and they never came. I finally caught a pharmacy tech and asked him if he had my fluids. He said he didn't. My fluids finally showed up right at shift change.
I didn't like that because it puts more work on night shift. It's a task assigned to me and it didn't get done. I don't like leaving things undone. What could I do though?
I think it will help when I go back to school in January to kill my sluggishness. I have so much free time right now that I don't know what to do with it. I have had a hard time getting into a routine. I know some people wish that they had this problem. I'm not one of them. I like to do things but in order to do things, I have to have a reason to be somewhere and do something. I need to be around people. It just helps when I can interact with them. Even if I'm not talking to someone, just being in a group is nice.
I'm a happy person when I have a full schedule. Right now I have work 3 days a week (12 hr days) so there goes those days, M and W is TKD (if I am off work those days), and when I am off on Saturdays I can either go bike with a group or go run with a group. Oh yeah, I have bible study on Tuesday mornings, again when I am off work.
I would just love to have a steady schedule of some sort. I'm getting there. It looks like in January my work schedule is going to become more consistent so that will help a lot with getting a set routine going.
When you feel like there is nothing left, pray, just pray.
That was all I could do today.
Unfortunately as a nurse you get caught up in more social stuff than any one normal person should be exposed to in a lifetime. Today was one of those days.
Yes my job is there to take care of the baby but I also need to know, to some extent, about what is going on. For example, it's important for us to know if a baby is a CYFD case or not.
This baby was supposed to get transfered somewhere else. The mother and grandmother were understandably upset. Unfortunately they were upset at us when they should have been taking it out on the court system who decided what was going to happen. Or better yet, maybe they need to be taking a look at themselves and asking themselves where they went wrong and what they can do to fix it from this point forward.
Of course there were threats thrown out. It was just rediculous. I don't understand this stuff.
Anyhow, someone along the way lost their spine and the baby did not get transfered to where the court order said to send it.
Some people think it's so great to "work with babies". I think they get the idea that it's all about feeding, burping, and cuddling. It's the exact opposite of that.
There is a good side to nursing but there is also the ugly side to nursing. These last two days have been all about the ugly side of things.
Part of nursing is being involved in the family unit, no matter if you want to get involved or not. This means that you get stuck, yes stuck, in the middle of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the absolutely apalling. There is just no way of getting around it.
I try as hard as I can to be neutral. I call it being Switzerland. I get to know what I need to know and I refuse to go digging beyond that.
I suggest everyone out there take this approach. The more you know, the deeper it gets and before you know it, you're caught up in the whole thing and you have now dug yourself a hole so deep that you can't climb out. Luckily I have learned this lesson by watching others. Sometimes you can get in so deep that it may put your license on the line.
I'm sorry but I worked HARD for my license and I continue to work extremely hard to keep it. You may think that once you get your license it's easy sailing but it isn't. The work is just begining when you get your license.
Being a nurse is about taking care of your patients but the other dirty side of nursing is about protecting what you have worked so hard for, your license. Without your license, you aren't a nurse and won't be able to practice as such. Nothing is worth putting that at risk. Let me repeat that, NOTHING is worth putting your license on the line. Especially when it comes to social issues.
Know only what you NEED to know and be Switzerland about the rest.
I also suggest NOT giving out your last name. Lucky for me, my legal name is not on my badge but still. I don't want to give ANY family ANY way to find me and either find where I live and/or try to name me in a lawsuit.
To end this all, I have to say that there is no way I would have survived these past two days if it weren't for me knowing that I had Christ by my side to lean on and to get strength and courage from.
I don't remember the last time I have prayed as hard as I did these past two days. I am so THANKFUL to have accepted Christ and to have Him in my life.
I don't know what I would have done without Him. He is my rock.
Ouch! I sparred so hard on Monday night that I am still sore today!!!! I didn't think I went at it that hard.
What I remember is sparring this new guy in our class that is a boxer. Apparently he thinks Tae Kwon Do still = boxing and treated it as such. I wasn't ready for that and ended up getting by butt handed to me. I actually got hit hard enough in the face that I got mad. That hasn't happened to me before that. It was an odd feeling. I don't remember if I landed any good kicks on him or not but I was using my kicks every time he tried to get in and rush me. I also remember that if he was able to get in, I was using my kicks to get him away. That being said, he's one heck of a boxer. I could learn some stuff from him.
My next go-round went better. I think I was still feeling the rush from being mad but this time I was more controlled. What I remember from this one is that it just went well all around. We got to chose our partners and the person I chose is a pretty equal match for me which is why I chose him. I finally landed a good back kick and was able to follow through with it. I was so happy about that. I've been working on that for quite some time.
One of the things they teach us is to counter a side kick with a back kick. I still have to think about it when someone throws a side at me but I'm finding I'm getting more and more comfortable with my counters.
I don't know why but I find I fight better using counters than attacking first. I like to see what the other person is going to throw at me so then I know how to react and I know their speed and how to read them. I fought like that my first few go-rounds in TKD as well and was quite successful with it. Every once in a while I'll take the offensive side if the person I'm sparring isn't doing much and then when they start throwing stuff at me, I change my game.
That being said, things are going well. Scott and I are getting ready to head to Tucson next weekend to ride the tour. I'm quite nervous about it. It's not so much the distance, 67 miles, it's just the fact that I have never ridden in such a large crowd. I sure hope I don't wreck!!!!!
I haven't been on the bike in over a week. My hamstring was bothering me after working last week so I took Saturday and Sunday off and it helped. I'm feeling 100% better now and have had zero pain, even with TKD on Monday night. I'm so happy.
I'm going to look into doing one of the turkey races on Thanksgiving this year. I'm very excited about that. I haven't run a 5k in at least two years. It should be fun.
I am off on Thanksgiving this year. I still don't know what we are going to do. I'm hoping to get together with friends again. I cooked a turkey last year and have no plans of cooking one this year.
I'm a little sad though. I haven't seen these friends in a while but I know it's a little hard right now since I've been training for Tucson and they were training for a different race. I still hope that they come down with us though. It would really suck being the only girl there.
Yesterday I was home with a headache for most of the day and what do I do? Research for NP (nurse practitioner) school and specialty. I basically ended up giving myself an even bigger headache.
It's so hard to decide what to do. I LOVE working where I work. The patient population is really awesome. I would go NNP but the thing holding me back from that is that the practitioners rotate days and nights. I'm not sure how often they rotate between the two but either way, it doesn't sound healthy. My husband suggested that I start there if that is where my heart is in a few years and then I can always go back for a post-masters certificate in FNP (family).
I don't know. I'm going to let everything sit and simmer for a while before I start bending in any one direction.
One thing that hasn't changed over the years is I still want to do cardiology.
The quest for a baby continues as well. It's been since July.
I really really want a dog. I think that would make a great Christmas present.
I'm getting random now. it's time to go.
