Happy New Year to one and all! I hope the new year finds you with great health, happiness and much success. I know I am looking forward to the new year and new beginnings. I hope that 2008 brings more happiness and health to our lives as well. It is my only prayer.
Oh, and please drink responsibly. :0)
Today was the best day ever. From the moment we woke up we've been having fun. For starters, we mysteriously got a Wii donated to us from Santa Claus...thank you Santa. We looked everywhere for one, but to no avail. One day my MIL called and said someone sent her one anonymously just for us. How sweet. Whoever you are...thank you soo much!!! One night after the kids went to bed, my husband and I opened it and played all the sports games and it was so much fun. (Especially the boxing!) BUT there is a downfall to the Wii...my arms hurt like crazy and it makes you sweat. The workout is unbeleiveable. Moral of the story... if you want your kids to get off their butts and excercise and have fun at the same time...buy them a Wii. 
We also got my son the game Guitar Hero III, which is the best game ever invented and I have hijacked it from my child. I can play Smoke On The Water like nobody's business so watch out! There is a downside to playing this game, which I am the only one to have discovered it.....it makes me feel as though I'm tripping acid. It's not a good feeling. After so long of watching the screen, I looked at my nephew and his face looked like it was shrinking. I thought he was playing some kooky tricks with his eyebrows and I shook my head and let it go. Then....I noticed the couch and my socks also seemed to be coming to life...that wasn't a fun feeling. I asked everyone in a nonchalant way if they saw the walls breathing and the look I got definately told me NO. So, I did what any normal, non drug taking person would do, I googled it. http://www.digitpress.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-99379.html Seems like I'm not the only one with this problem. I started to wonder if this could cause seizures....now I'm all paranoid about playing. It's too bad too cause I really wanted to learn to play Barracuda...damn. 
My poor, unfortunate, deprived little children have complained forever about wanting a new tv for our basement/playroom because they stated that theirs was way too small. I wanted to shed tears for them over this calamity, because a small tv is just torturous so my very sensitive, compassionate husband decided for Christmas they deserved a 42 inch flat screen...you know because it's so sad they have to squint and all. Their reaction was priceless. Needless to say, they have a nicer tv then we have in our family room. Sacrifices, sacrifices.
Skyler really wanted a digital camera and so we got him one, because once again they are the best and deserve the best (spoiled) and we just can't say no. 
Aidan loves the Food Network which he so sweetly calls the Food Channel. He always loves to help me prepare meals, make kool-aid and the like and has dubbed himself as " the best cooker ever." So this year for Christmas he asked Santa for this: 
Notice the boy on the box is holding a cell phone. He probably just walked in from a long day at his high powered job at the office and is expecting some good grub. Oh....and the cell phone was in fact included, because as you know, you can't have a kitchen without a cell. It's just unheard of. Not only does my child revere a career as a chef when he grows up but he also wants to be one at this place: 
He loves his McDonalds play set, maybe a little too much, but who can deprive their child from good old imaginative play? He also got a Subway set, but it's not nearly as fun as the McDonald's one.
After a great day of family fun we took Aidan to the park to cruise around in his new ride. Yes, he rolled up onto the play ground like he owned the place and made all of the other kids jealous. 
All in all, it was the most perfect day. God couldn't have given us a more wonderful Christmas. My life is so sweet! I hope that your Chrismtas was as awesome as mine.
Aidan's guardian angel:
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This week I have been doing the hospital orientation and it's been really hilarious nonsense. In the last 3 days we have learned the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, built a cell phone tower out of K-Nex, worked in teams to determine the right way to grow a world class tomato, written a mission statement for what we want in our lives, watched videos on the proper way to sneeze and cough, which was hilarious by the way and in slow motion no less with judges scoring the techniques, gave eachother massages-YES they made us do that, take an aerobics class....in my high heeled boots might I add, and spent about 1 hour total on actual hospital stuff such as the benefits packages and policies. THIS. IS. NOT. A. JOKE. What the hell? What about learning how to do the computer charting? Infection control? HELLO? Is this a hospital orientation or a group therapy session? I'm not so sure. I'm starting to wonder if I'm in the wrong class...
All in all it's felt pretty ridiculous, but atleast I'm getting paid now for all of my precious time spent. Is it just me or does it seem like the road to becoming a nurse is more about the BS than actual nursing? I just want to stick people with needles. Is that too much to ask? Luckily tomorrow is my last day and then I go back on the 27th for who knows what. We'll probably be laying on a sofa telling about all the bad things our mamas did to us over the course of our lives. Geez....I'm just ready to work already, well maybe not. LOL
Tune in tomorrow...I'm sure I'll have a good story to tell.
I have waited over 2 years to write this post. I did it. I FINALLY Graduated!!!!!!! My whole blog was about my journey through nursing school and it's now over. It has been the longest, toughest, most stressful and fun two years of my life. I have learned so much. Not just about nursing, but about myself and the icing on the cake is that I came away from this experience with some of the most awesome friends I've ever had.
Graduation day was really emotional for me. When I woke up on Friday I felt sick at my stomach and anxious. I didn't understand why I was so sad and then it dawned on me that I was going to miss my friends so much. We've been through a lot together and no matter how much I've complained about school, it does upset me that it's over...really over. The night was great. There were so mmany people there supporting me that I felt like I barely got a chance to say hello to everyone. Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos. That's what happens when I am not in charge of the camera. lol My husband did manage to get snippets of video of the actual ceremony, but other than that everything was too crazy for photo ops. The video/slideshow was a success and all of our classmates were thrilled about it. None of them had seen it so it was nice to see their reactions. It was a tear jerker for sure, but it had a lot of funny parts too, as you saw.
I'm glad it's over and it's time to move on, but it's definately bittersweet. There are no words to describe how I'm feeling, but I know one thing...I'm proud of myself and of my family for getting me through it. When my boys came up to me and said "I'm proud of you mom." It was the best words I could have ever wanted to hear. I can't thank them enough for putting up with me. 
Well, here is the video me and my good friend Jill (she has the really blonde hair) made for our pinning on Friday night. No one in the class has seen it so no snitching! lol
Please understand that I had to scale the quality wayyy down to fit it on my blog so it's kind of fuzzy. It will be DVD quality for the ceremony and it's very clear. Sorry about that, but there was no other way. Other than that, tell me what you think.
Peace and Love,
Christy
Memories From the Past
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My friend Jill and I have been working really hard on making a slideshow/video for our pinning ceremony. It's finally finished and I think it's awesome. It's 13-14 minutes long, which isn't too bad. I think they can sit there through that when we've devoted 2 years of our time, don't you? Somehow I'd like to post it here for you all to watch, but it's such a big file...I don't know how to. Maybe my geeky technology efficient husband will know how. I will definately try. At first we were getting really emotional watching the video and putting it all together...now I'm kind of sick of it. lol Hopefully it still moves me come Friday night. I am envious of those who haven't seen it (rest of the class) because it is emotional, reminessant, nostaligic, funny and all that ooey gooey stuff that makes one cry and feel sad and happy at the same time. ha. I'm really proud of the work we did because compared to others I've seen I think it's very good, not that I'm tooting my own horn or anything.
We had our pinning rehearsal the other day and I admit, I got a little sad. It's deinately a bittersweet moment.... One that we've waited for for soo long. The time has gone by so fast, yet so slow. I remember the first day of class...everyone looked so anxious and scared and excited and scared, including me. It seemed like soo long ago. I am really going to miss my friends I've made at school and I hope that I get to keep in touch with them. 2 of them will be working with me and I'm very happy about that. It's comforting to know that you'll have other newbies along side you on a different journey. Funny enough, I think I'll kind of miss school too. As much as I complained about, I did make some of the best memories there. If you're just starting out...take photos, write in a journal, cherish every moment...the good and the bad. One day, you too will be graduating and feel this same way. It's funny how this whole blog has been devoted to my nursing school experience and come Friday it will all be over. I will continue to write as I start out as a new nurse...sounds strange... and share with you a lot of crazy moments I'm sure I'll have. I update about Aidan on his site regularly too...so check that out. He is doing well by the way. Everything is going great...so far, so good. :-) How do I manage to do all of these things? I guess by pure will....who knew I was so strong?
I have no idea what I'm going to wear Friday and haven't had the time to shop for something yet. I'm such a slacker. I'll definately post and tell you all about how the pinning went. Until then.....
Peace & Love
O-M-G I graduate in a week! Can you believe it? I may have to change the name of my blog. Tomorrow is the last class I will ever have as a college student, well unless I go back one day of course. (Shaking my head) A-Hem. Tomorrow we are going to class to talk about precepting and our experiences. Sometimes nursing school feels a lot like the shrinks office. They want us to talk all the time about our "thoughts and feelings." Honestly, I don't care...I just want to be done. I've seen their faces long enough and we've done waaaaay more than our fair share of work this semester. Is that bad of me? Oh well. We also are suppose to practice for our pinning ceremony tomorrow. I don't know what we'll need to do to practice other than walk on the stage, but whatever.
I'm getting so excited!!!!!!!!! I can't wait until I get pinned. I'll have someone tape a video and take photos and post them here as soon as I can. I hope I don't trip and fall. Oy..that would suck so bad. If you knew me, then you'd know I'd be the one to trip of all my classmates. I'm so clumsy, especially when I'm nervous and for some reason I'm a little nervous about next Friday. Me and another couple of friends are making a slideshow video for our pinning ceremony. I hope it turns out well, we haven't started it yet. Oops!
I finished precepting last Friday and have spent the week doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying time with my kids. It's been nice, but I'm afriad it won't last long. I start my hospital orientation on the 17th...right after graduation. :-( I should have put it off a little longer, but it's too late to turn back now. A piece of advice...I know once you finish school you're anxious to get started on your new career, however....give yourself a little break. You've just finished one of the most difficult programs ever and to relax a little is not a sin. I wish I had thought of this earlier. I'd love to start after the New Year instead...ah well.
Hope you all are staying warm....it's cold outside! Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
