X is probably 42

While I would like to celebrate the fact that we’ve survived 4 weeks of nursing school plus 2 whole weeks of middle school and first grade at chez moi... I don’t think I can do that...

Yes, I did manage to get them there on time without missing any busses, and yes, on 75% of the days that I sent them, the lunches I lovingly packed full of nutritional goodness like Doritos (cheese, right?) and dry cereal (um...) were actually in their book bags. It’s just that the sense of accomplishment of sending 3 people out into the world is dimmed by the fact that tomorrow is Friday, and I have done no laundry since Tuesday. This, of course, means that I have 6000 pounds of laundry to do before Monday rears it’s ugly head...

How I have so much laundry is a mystery of the universe that probably requires a mathematician or physicist to write into an equation so that some poor high schooler will have it to solve in a text book for advanced math so that they can grow up to go to college to be a physicist, etc.

My personal nightmare would read something like:

If a mother has 3 children, and the oldest wears 1 outfit a day, the second wears 1 outfit and 3 pairs of socks a day, and the youngest wears 2 outfits, 8 pairs of socks and 3 skirts a day, how many loads of laundry will the mother have to wash assuming that there was no rain but a dirt pile was delivered to a neighbor’s yard? Solve for X...

X is probably 42.

Or purple.

Meanwhile, I think I deserve a break. And a beer. And heck, maybe an award for managing to remember to pay the babysitter... wait... did I remember to... 

Ta-Do

on my 'ta do' list is study for my final exams. There are 3 left and one of them is worth 30% of my grade. Basically, you can f*%# it up and fail the class, even if you go in with an A. For the record, I don't plan on f*%#ing it up.

also on my 'ta do' list is be a mom. There are 3 kids to consider, and at an average of 12 math problems per kid per night, this shouldn't be an issue, but damn... sometimes it's a FREAKING ISSUE.

items also on the list are train to swim, bike, and run and not drown. or suck. not sucking at swimming biking and running all seems like a sound a reasonable plan.

and let's not forget further down the 'ta do' list is drive a taxi service. If you don't like driving, I'd advise you have only one child, or only have dogs. Dogs are great actually, I understand they like to walk.

'Ta do' list also includes be thankful the car started today. or better yet, just plain old, be thankful.

Something happened today that reminded me to keep it in perspective. It should be on my 'ta do' list.

My perspective was brought to me by my favorite therapist. She's black. I only mention it because she sheds, and wearing white is a challenge. She reminded me that

today is the best day ever.

You want to know why? Because I took her for walk this morning before I left the house.
We walked NO WHERE.
In a 5 minute CIRCLE, if you will.
And yet, it was THE BEST DAY EVER because, it just was...  it was the day she got to spend 5 minutes with me, savoring our time together. She smiled the whole time. And even though it wasn't our longest or most adventurous walk, she was all wagging and smiles and sloppy wet kisses when we got home.

And here's the truth of my life.

Today is just what I make of it. Maybe I'll be a good mom, be a great athlete, or be neither and do nothing but take a walk with my dog...  it's all how I look at it.

So today, was the best day ever... 

even though it wasn't.

~savor the run~

like the ____ on the cake

I had a dream last night that my car got run off the road and after the tumbling and metal crunching ceased I was suspended in the JEEP, upside down, on a snow packed grassy median.  All I could think was, “I can’t believe that jerk hit my car….” And “Oh my gah~.  H loves this JEEP so much he’s going to cry 10,000 tears.”

I woke up and looked outside to see that the snow that had been powdered sugar at bedtime, now fully coated my back deck, and happily discovered through a late night visit with my mac that my nursing school had a 2 HOUR DELAY!!!  ß said in ~like~ the big movie announcer voice.

Then I went back to sleep and dreamed about cake. 

 

Delicious cake.

Rich buttery yellow cake layered with chocolate icing (or, depending on where you’re from, frosting, though, that brings me to, don’t people say, “and that was the icing on the cake”?, not the “…frosting on the cake”?  Just thinking).

And then today in class we were talking about how giving a patient too much oxygen can kill them, and we all agreed that killing the patients is “bad” and that on the priority list of “things not to do” it’s right up there with, “don’t wreck your H’s JEEP.”  

My professor was pretty lenient and even laughed along, probably because there were only about 7 of us who braved the 2.5 inches of snow to get to school anyway.

She then went into a little lecture about how “too much is too much and not enough is not enough,” and how, “O2 like everything else in life needed to be in moderation…” and I whispered to my lab partner, “just.like.cake.”  Which was only funny because O2 is really nothing like cake, but my lab partner giggled anyway, and somehow that made class today hilarious and fun, despite the fact that nursing school is really hard... 

I'm the first to admit, probably it was one of those “you had to be there” moments… also, I maybe didn’t take my ADD meds today.

Top 10 Reasons....nursing school doesn't suck

10 - Each class we assess a different body system.  About 3 systems in, and I have been diagnosed with Anemia every week... "nursing diagnosis", not "Md diagnosis".   Regardless, I'm a fan of consistency.

 9 - In lab class we practice our skills on the people who are handy.  That is to say, we practice on other students.  My BP, HR and Respirations are normal and healthy... and still normal 10 minutes later... and STILL normal 10 minutes later...

 8- It's OK to get caught wearing the same outfit as your friend.

 7 - Free pass to wear White Shoes before Memorial Day.  My white shoes are HOT!  I mean that literally.  They are warm.  And thank god, too.  With all the 60 degree weather this winter, I'd hate to imagine what I would have done if my shoes weren't keeping me warm.

 6 - Am slowly rebuilding my upper body strength from all these books.

 5- No one even bothers to ask me about my eye twitch any more.

 4 - Raise your hand if you have a FOLEY CATHETER in your book bag.  Go ahead.  Annnnytime you want....  NO?  Well I cannot WAIT to whip that puppy out at a party, cos I think it's going to be the next *in* thing.

 3 - Sense of humor seems really sharp these days... or, at least my classmates seem to think so.  Either that or they're so exhausted they're punchy.
But I'm pretty sure I'm just HILARIOUS.

 2 - Nurses are SEXY.  Well, that's what she said.


 1 - A few weeks ago in my lab partners & I took turns tying each other to beds.  For real.  Did I mention that my lab parter is a 20 something year old cutie?

Creature of habit

I have some strange habits.  I’m not complaining.  They help me get things done.

I credit my odd habits with my routine, and I credit my routine with keeping me 82% sane.  I’m, sadly, only 82% sane right now because I’m marathon training and anyone who claims “sanity & marathon training” go together like “peanut butter and jelly” is a liar.

The habit I enjoy the most is that I get up at 4something in the morning, stumble down stairs in fog, blinking heavily.  I eat a little piece of banana, drink some water, and hang out in my kitchen with my text books and e-mail for a bit while I wake up.  Then I go for a run.

~savor~

On rest days, I have a habit of getting up at 4something in the morning, eating a little, brewing some coffee and being in love with my biology or nursing or statistics text book until the kids get up.  Ok, love is a strong word here.

How about this one:  “Let me sit back and consider if I’m really hungry before I eat”.  Yes.  It’s a habit I worked hard to develop.  It’s taken a while to become second nature.  Today I found myself bored at one point (sitting at computer doing 45 statistics problems – you’d have been bored too) and contemplated grazing. 

Duh, WWBS?  *What would Brooke Say?  “Are you hungry?  No.  Then git your sorry southern a** out of the pantry”.  I love Brooke’s accent.  She’s Texan.  Pinch me.

Of course, despite the fact that I’m FREAKING AWESOME, I’m not perfect, and some of my habits are a fail. 

I often stop to log food into food journal, pop over to Facebook, take a look….  Or worse.  E-mail.  I get 30 e-mails a day from people I’d like to communicate with… (I have to clarify that because I probably get 843 e-mails a day from people requesting money be wire transferred, or suggesting that my (equipment) could stand to be larger, harder and better). 

I can lose an hour reading, and replying in support, encouragement, need, love, or conversation with the people I support, love, need and converse with on a daily basis.  I have dedicated time for e-mail.  The bad habit is allowing myself to get sucked in past that time.  Admittedly “certain people” have the addy that goes straight to the DROID… and thus, there are no hours of operation. 

I have the bad bad habit of checking that e-mail way too often.  if you have that addy you know this first hand.

Still, keeping a detailed food journal takes some time.  Keeping up with 3 kids takes a chunk of time.  Homework and class time takes about 40 hours a week at this point, that e-mail “habit” as bad as it is can kill hours in my day, and, then, you have what my husband considers my worst offender: my running habit.  

That one takes … well, as much time as it takes.

So, I guess it’s not surprising that I get the following question ALL the time:

“How do you FIT IT ALL IN???”

How do I … ?  What?  Please people. 

If it’s important to you, you’ll fit it in and make it part of your routine. 

If you love it (i.e. – Running, riding or “heroin use” in general), you’ll fit it in. 

If you hate it but it has to be done (i.e. – Planks, Statistics homework) you’ll STILL fit it in.

Even if that means you have to develop a habit that allows you to read e-mail, do planks, go running, and do homework at 4:29am, 7 days a week.

Of course, on the running days, it’s easier to break out of the fog by 4:45, but that’s just coz I love that ‘habit’ a bit more than homework.  And that habit this year has lead to a whopping 855 miles to date.  Considering I took a month off of running *fankle, that number seems pretty significant.

~savor the run~

Dear Ethics Professor...

Dear Ethics Professor,

Thanks for the A.

I know from your last e-mail that you feel you gifted it to me.

Thanks for making the accomplishment less meaningful by clicking send on an e-mail I could have done without.

I (still) think you suck.

Sincerely,

4.0-student/marathoner/mother of 3 who cannot wait to submit the end of the Semester Survey to the department head