About Me

undergrad RN
I'm a twenty-something Canadian student. After stumbling through a few years of college, I finally managed to get into the nursing school of my dreams, where I hope to graduate in 2012 with a nursing baccalaureate degree. I want to offer an honest look into how a modern nurse is educated, both good and bad. Eventually I hope to compare my education to my day-to-day career and see how it holds up. Whatever happens, it should be somewhat entertaining. Find me on allnurses.com!
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Hey, You! Spam Guy!

I (and every other blogger I know) have been getting a lot of email requests asking me advertise or repost things I do not care about or wish to endorse. I do not make any money off this blog - any endorsements I may make are strictly because I am personally pleased with the results.

I DO NOT and WILL NOT repost anything someone emails me. If I want to link to something, I will find it myself.

If you want to spread the word about something, make your own blog!

All spam received at my blog email is deleted without reading.
Sunday, July 26, 2009

Ah, memes.

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? We don't do "prom" in Alberta. We do grad, however, and the first time I went was with my first real boyfriend Trevor to his. Awww

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? See "Trevor" above, and yes we do still talk on FB from time to time. Mostly random comments. His mom and I are better friends than I am with him.

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink? A warm Club beer split 4 ways... *blech*

4. What was your FIRST job? I was a book reshelver at the library. Go Dewey Decimal System!

5. What was your FIRST car? 1992 Ford Temp AKA "The White Wind" due to an unfortunate offroading experience approximately two weeks after I got the keys

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? My friend Tina from school

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? The amazing guy who helped me lead a Naxx 25 raid all last night/this morning in World of Warcraft. Thanks, Treeshield!

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? We call it grade one here. Mrs. Robinson. I remember she had this little moose puppet that would help us learn to spell, and I had an argument with said puppet because I said that "gonna" was a word and he said it wasn't. I wasn't gonna give up that battle.

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? Ontario at 3 months old to be shown off to the appropriate relatives.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Ahh Melissa, my best friend from 3 houses down. We used to go exploring in the wilderness trails that our houses backed onto. It was really magical living there.

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over? My FIRST? I forget. But the earliest one I remember was at my friend Kari's in grade three for her birthday!

12. Who was the first person you talked to today? My boss :(

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? Er... I guess this means the first wedding I attended? That would be mon oncle Jacob. I was the flower girl, and I HATED it. I was 7.

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Went to bed. Late night.

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Eve 6 with Gob and Treble Charger! I still have the tshirt and I got it signed too. We drove the infamous "White Wind" there and it broke down on the highway... stupid car.

16. FIRST tattoo? A big, beautiful Friesian

17. FIRST piercing? Tongue!

18. FIRST foreign country you went to? Well the USA doesn't count. Scotland was my first real out of country experience.

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing? The Land Before Time... or The Last Unicorn

20. When was your FIRST detention? Grade 4, when my new best friend (with whom I am still best friends) was talking to me while the teacher was talking. My parents were soooo disappointed in me :)

22. Who was your FIRST roommate? See Trevor, #1. We got a cute apartment the second I turned 18. We had ferrets that pooped in all the corners. Ahh, bliss.

23. If you had one wish, what would it be? That I, too, could go to school and not have to pay rent or bills.

24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance? To figure out how to play the beautiful Seagull S6 guitar that I bought off of eBay 4 years ago. One day!

25. Did you marry the FIRST person to ask for your hand in marriage? Well, the last hateful douchebag that I loved was *supposed* to ask me, and I probably would have said yes, but he got distracted with banging other women.

26. What was the first sport that you were involved in? Horseback riding! And it will be the last!

27. What were the first lessons you ever took? Horseback riding! My favorite lesson pony was Ginger, a chestnut quarab. She was hawt stuff and when I loped her I thought my life had pinnacled. I was 10.

28. What is the first thing you do when you get home? Strip! My apartment is over 35 degrees right now.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Woo!

If you venture down to the bottom of this page, you will see that I am officially 20 lbs lighter than I was 6 months ago. I have a single chin now and a jawline (yay!) and I've lost I think 5 inches off my waist and have had to buy new skinny jeans twice, woo hoo!

This is a total endorsement for Weight Watchers. I *really* like the flexibility (sorry, chicken and rice day after day isn't really my style) and I thrive on the accountability. Knowing I'm going to have to get on that scale every Tuesday and be accountable for what I put in my mouth or burned off at the gym the week before is just awesome for motivation.

I am now halfway to my goal of 125 lbs.

It's not the fastest way and it does take dedication and internal motivation (no one is yelling at me to spend money on a meeting, after all), and it has taken me 6 months to get here today, but I can honestly say that the way I look at food is changed forever. Food is fun, yes, but food is also fuel. Maintain equilibrium and you'll never grow out of your fat pants like I did last fall.

Those 20 lbs are NEVER coming back... in fact they can take 20 extra lbs with 'em :)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Shtudyin'

I'm in my usual spot in the school right now finishing up on studying for my first Pharm midterm in about 1.5 hours from now.

I just can't get over how serene and peaceful the school is during the summer. It's utterly tomblike.

Just thought I'd share.... :)
Monday, July 20, 2009

Pharmacology + Summer = hmmmm

So pharmacology started up on July 7th. 3 hours a day in the morning on Tuesday thru Thursdays. Not bad, right?

Until I look out the window and the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I can run across the road at break for an iced cap.

Still, it is pretty interesting stuff! The prof is an RN MEd, with no Pharm degree in sight but a bunch of experience so I guess that counts. She has a lot to say about drugs and interactions as she apparently is a chronic pain sufferer from a car accident and is hypersensitive to many drugs. So the stories she has been sharing are... well, scary.

The course is sooo condensed. We learned about drug calculations on Thursday the 10th and had the test on the following Tuesday. The passing grade was 100%! Stress, stress, stress was all I did. The test had a few sneaky questions with infusion that I had trouble with, as there was surplus information such as drip rates and the nurse changing the bag from 750 mL to 1000 mL. So I failed it but luckily I got a redo and was able to just recalculate my wrong questions.

It's not even that the med math is hard... it's not. But it was just so unfamiliar to me and looks different than all my years of algebra and chemistry. Mostly because I'm not used to working with those units or visualizing typically nebulous questions in a way that's very concrete and factual. I mean, when has math or chemistry ever applied to something you're actually going to do, right? So I still feel a little shaky but I have a workbook full of questions that I will brush up on before clinical in January.

So the other thing I've been up to is my new hobby of burlesque. A bunch of girls and I started up a new troupe here and have done a couple of shows so far this summer. I have to say - I freaking love it. At first I was a little shy, but it is just so incredibly liberating and full of verve that I'm hopelessly addicted. I'm always listening to music wondering whether I could use it for a song and envisioning new moves. We have had a total blast and I am finally remembering how much fun performing is! It's full of moves from jazz and ballet, and lots of theatrical parts too!

I'm moving in about a month to a new place as I don't want to live in this apartment after my ex and I split... so I will probably be busy with that and will be lacking internet for a bit! Hopefully I can post some more before then :)

I hope you're all enjoying your summer!