Anxious

So I might have some big news about that thing you're supposed to start after graduation. It's big. It's so big that I'm hoping my cards are played right and that I'm making the right choice after screwing up eariler today. this is cryptic and vague, I know. Let's just say I can't manage to keep my foot out of my mouth and I have the inability to make a decision and I might have to change a decision that I made on a whim. The decision on a whim was made today and within 4 hours, the mind was changed. But as I haven't signed anything, I think it's ok. Bad, but not as bad as it could be. And because the more I type the more cryptic this message becomes, I think I'll write about something else.

Like parties!

There's an holiday party tomorrow night....one of the traditional students at my school invited me to her holiday party, which is complete with turkey and ham (!), so I'll need to figure out something nice to wear.

Shiny leggings might not be appropriate.

but they might be good for Saturday's Tacky Xmas party (you know, where you wear one of those awful sweaters/sweatshirts that are Xmas themed). I feel bad for all the older ladies out there who spend that much money on those sweaters!

Here's what I have so far to wear:
reindeer headband? Check
Red/Green sequined headband? Check
Rudolph blinking nose? Check
cream colored mock turtleneck with tiny snowman motif? check
Red sweatshirt with white lace collar, complete with design of xmas teddy bear wearing an xmas bow? Check
Xmas themed pins? Check and Check
leggings? check

I think I'm going to have to go with the stirrup leggings. As you may have seen from a previous post, the shiny leggings with a shirt above the butt aint' so cute (sorry, had to use the aint').

leg warmers? Check...although I might take those off...I think they were made for a 10 year old. no wonder they were only $4.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed that the right choice is being made and nobody gets upset... And that the xmas parties are fun :)

Halloween

For reasons that should be left unsaid-and for reasons that you can only imagine, I'm banning myself from ever playing Flip Cup*.

But the party was so much fun! and the outfit was great. I loved it so much that I was planning on wearing it out again tonight, but I ended up sleeping in my clothes. I'm still wearing the outfit. I swear, it's that comfy. Stylish and comfy....TLC's What Not to Wear would be proud!

*how new is Flip Cup? I never heard of it until we came to Delaware. Seriously. Did this game exist at Florida???

12 hours later.....

I had lunch today at 2:00.

A salad.

That came with tomatoes.

A voice in the back of my head said, "hm, maybe you shouldn't get that."

but then the 'rational' voice said back, "Get real. What are you going to do? Stop eating because of some bad batches? And they haven't pulled it off the market yet, so it can't be that bad..."

And not that you want a history of my bowel movements, but....

and now. at 2:22 am, about 12 hours after eating my salad (which obviously had tomatoes), my stomach is crampy.

I'm hoping this stomach thing is the fact that I've been eating crappy lately and that I'm in a downer of a mood. Stupid Delaware.

So Much to Say...

So there was a horrible test in my maternity test a week or so ago.

So horrible.

I wanted to cry again.

But I ended up with a higher score when compared to the first exam.

Maternity is one of those classes where the teachers (professor & lab instructor) talk and all I hear is, "rwar, rwar, rwar" a la Charlie Brown's teacher.

Then there was the wedding in Annapollis (sp), which was really pretty, except I felt super uncomfortable because all I wanted/needed was a pair of Spanx and there was no time to run into the mall. And to make it worse, I needed the spanx for the butt area. Clingy jersey dress with no spanx? NO THANKS!

then Yesterday was a pharm exam, which every one feels OK about, except (wait for it), I think (again) I didn't do so well.

This no-confidence in school thing is getting old.

Oh...and, yes there will be a blog about this: I went to a chairpersons committee meeting for the spouse group last night. Don't ask why (or more importantly, how), I got on the committee (much less the CHAIRPERSON). If the brain (what little is left) is still working this afternoon, I will share my stories.

If not, here's what lies ahead:
Saturday: 5K (should be interesting. the last time I ran 3 miles was 6 weeks ago. I've fallen off all bandwagons lately..no running, no studying, no blogging...

Saturday cont: study
Sunday: Study
Monday: class...& quiz
Tuesday: Med Surg 2: exam3
Wednesday: Test out
Thursday: Test out & Test Out

Classes are wrapping up and there's a lot of exams in the next 4 weeks. Trying to keep in sane.

Anniversary

It's been almost a YEAR since we moved to Delaware! We got here April 25. Humor yourself and read some of the posts from 2007...those back in early March when we checked out the area, and then again when we moved up here in April. One is linked, the others you'll have to be click the link to the right (2007), scroll down and hit "older posts."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that we will be LEAVING Delaware for a weekend wedding on the very day we moved here.

Leopardtini to Me!

I need to find a picture of my shoes, because if you saw those, you would understand why that leopard martini glass is the most perfect gift from my nursing school friends.

They are incredibly cool and I'm so glad to have met such a great group in such a short amount of time.

The glass will go great with my new ultra funk-filled sari bag :) Loving it!

What Student Nurses do on the Weekends...

Inject strawberries with triple sec!

Hey...we have to learn how to do injections someway or another...

Where I've Been...

I wish this was a travel post about all the places I've visted lately.

hardly.

squint and you will see that class doesn't end at 6. Monday till 7 and 8 for tuesday. Yes, I'm whining.

That's this semester's crazy hellish class schedule. But Rachel, you say, it's not that bad! You only have one class on Wednesdays and Fridays!

Right...but that's *supposed* to be for field experiences and labs. Again, hardly. labs are everyday. Monday was easy since classes didn't officially start until after 4pm. On Tuesday I started the day with my first lab (O2 therapy) prior to the three classes. Wednesday had a lab before and after class. Today was another lab. As of this moment, I don't have ANY labs tomorrow...that's a blessing. But I will be in the computer lab for about 4 hours to try and finish an out of class assignment.

I think next week I have two labs on Monday...or is that Tuesday? I don't remember...Wednesday night is a field experience and no labs, but I'm sure that will change between now and then. It's crazy!

But not as crazy as this:

What is the deal with the undergrads and sweats?? I don't remember this being a big style at Florida (granted Florida was a bonafide swamp). But sweats and Uggs DO NOT GO.

Neither do sweats and Wellies.

and the kicker: wearing sweats over shorts, and making sure the sweats only cover half the bottom so that everyone knows you're wearing shorts under the sweats (much like the boxers visible under too large shorts/pants)...it's all made worse with uggs or wellies + sweat shirt/hoodie layering combo.

Ok. time to start pharm.

Time for a Change

There was a pre-class discussion with some classmates the other day. There is one in my class who apparantly believes the ridiculous emails that have been going around for the past year and a half about a certain canidate. In SC, I could expect this. xenophobes read things about people that don't look like the 'norm' and believe whatever malicious things are in print, no matter how outlandish. Female canidate running for president? the emails went out about. Man with funny sounding name? the emails went out. Thankfully, there are very few of 'those' people in my class (only one that we know of).

Anyways, after a classmate told me his wife saw A Certain Senator's Wife speak and became fired up (she signed up to be a volunteer that day), and after hearing that the senator himself was coming to a rally in Wilmington, I thought, "Hey, it's either stay at home, study, and read the NYTimes, or do something different."

so I decided it was time for a change.

At 10:15 I was heading up to Wilmington thinking, "I'm going to be late!" At the time I thought it was slightly foolish to be thinking that I was running 'late' to an event where the gates didn't open until 11:30 and the speaker wasn't arriving until 1:15...but still.

Parked the car. walked down the street with a lady I met in the garage, and then, saw. a HUGE line. BLOCKS long line. Fortunately for me, I ran into mentioned classmate, his wife, and her siblings & coworkers. Naturally they were glad I was able to 'find them' and cut in line :)

Once in the square, we found a great spot underneath the senator's center stage (it was a 360 speech). the man would have been able to spit on us. I would have been able to see up his nose.




Fortuantely, (or not), we were asked if we wanted to be on the risers. The RISERS?! YES WE DO! we said.

And so we went on the risers. Calls to the parents & friends were placed...especially since I was under the HA of the CHANGE poster. In other words, I was nearly dead center (my brother and mother/father saw a blurry version of me on CNN).

At about 1:15 I heard, "THERE HE IS!" and honestly started shaking. maybe it was the fact that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since the early morning. maybe it was because I really had to use the bathroom. Or maybe it was because it was so damn exciting. Yeah, it was the excitement.


I just wanted to get down the risers and say, "TALK TO ME! I want to hear what you are thinking!"

The new camera was fabulous for a point and shoot, and has an incredible zoom. That and the man is incredibly photogenic (this is why I can never run for office).

We saw The Senator speak (and speak he did...for about 45 minutes). It was GREAT. not as great as his Iowa speech (can anything top that?), but great.

I'm still in awe that I went to such a large event, and one that was, to me, incredibly meaningful. A teacher I worked with was nominated four years ago to go to the democratic convention. She came back in awe from seeing the then little known Senator speak.

Never have I participated in a political event, and I hope to participate in more. There's something to be said about those who complain and who fail to do anything. Talking and blogging on little blogs (ie those not read by the mainstream such as this one) are allright, but if you don't take the time get up, get out, and show up, what's talking going to accomplish?

Get up, get out, and show up!

If I learned anything when working with congressmen in SC, it's this: Every bill that's introduced to congress is introduced because a citizen did something. The citizen wrote letters and made phone calls to make that congressman aware of a problem. That citizen can be you.

Which ever way you chose to cast your vote, make sure you do.

Today's Plan

A conversation between me & my father:

Me: Did you hear what I'm doing Sunday?

Father: Yes. That's allright...we all make mistakes.

Me: You're right. We voted for Bush.

A 'Mild' Snow

This is what they call 'mild'

I'll tell you something. THAT is not mild to a Florilinawarian. Especially when Sir Issac Newton decides to take over the wheel. How many more days till Spring? oh right..105...

Snow Update

Question #1 has been answered. It's now snowing hard enough that it does indeed leave wet marks all over the ground.

But the Florilinawarian has another question: Does it thunder during snow storms? This might seem obvious to you meteorology geeks (eh hem, Ryan) and you northerners, but I never gave much thought to snow weather since I grew up along Hurricane Alley.

Has anyone ever noticed that 'snow' is a four letter word? Much like f---, sh-- and work?

Dust

Usually, when I'm doing course lectures online/cd-rom, the blinds are closed (avoiding distractions). For some reason, they were open and something grabbed my eye.

It looked like dust was flying around.

Little white specks of dust.

SNOW!

I'm not sure where it's going because I don't see anything white on the ground. I guess this means the snow is melting, but this born and raised Floridian, one time South Carolina resident, and now Delaware student (aka a Flora-lina-warian) is wondering why melted snow doesn't form puddles or wet marks on the ground.

Some more important questions include:

do you use the windshield wipers when driving in snow?
And can a convertible top hold snow?

Now excuse me as I recheck to see if my patho exam grade has been posted. Fingers crossed, please!

OMG

This dinner (+ this brie w/ apples)

was so. freaken. delicious.

I'm delirious.

from the dinner.

or the wine.

or the convo.

it's a toss up.

It was all so damn good.

LOST

1, blogging mojo.

Looks like: random words, strung together to form coherent sentences.
Last seen: pre Thanksgiving

2. study habits.

Looks like: mousy girl at table with nose in books, mouthing words to herself (note: mousy girl is not actually talking to herself).
Last seen: October

3. want-a-be-cook

Looks like: mousy girl, cursing in the kitchen and making a gigantic mess, but having fun saying, MMMMMM, ohMMMMMM while eating (unless of course the meal was very bad, then she was cursing while throwing everything in the trash).
Last seen: April....in Charleston...before The Move.

4. jogger

Looks like: mousy girl, hair in ponytail, looks as if she's dying but really having fun. Really.
Last seen: hard to say....made a few appearances in the summer of 2007. Has not been seen since the weather high failed to hit 65* AND fog rolled in.


The missing blogger/studier/cook/jogger has since gained weight and is beginning to resemble her original college self.

This is a bad thing.

A Very Bad Thing.

Send motivation this way.

Enough

I've had enough of this:

and would like some more of this:

Style in a Jiffy

Either I've been deprived my entire car owning life (heh), or DE does a few things right.

Went to Jiffy Lube yesterday and was prepared to sit myself in a corner with my nose deep in a book but...

they had the October issue of Elle.

and the November issue of InStyle.

no car magazines. no grimy coffee machine.

I didn't want to leave and considered getting my tires rotated so I could read up on Reese & Jessica.

Honestly. Things like that only exist in lifetime movies.

Halloween, Delaware Style

This is the first Halloween in nearly 5 years that I did not dress up! No biker girl, no punk rocker, no Velma Kelly, no nothing!

Ryan's flying and I'm home, being heart healthy with my chocolate (not nearly dark enough to be considered healthy, but roll with me) and red wine. Between the getting up, walking to the door, back to my chair to sit & repeat, I think I'm burning off the bags of mini-m&ms and Hershey bars that I've eaten.

Best costume so far? Puff the Magic Dragon & the Lobster. Infants in costumes are the cutest!

Transitions

Isn't there supposed some sort of transition between summer and winter?

I know, most people call it fall, but honestly, I didn't think fall meant the heat had to be turned on and winter clothes dug out. On Monday the outfit included sandals & a tank top. And the A/C was on. It was so warm that I took Ryan's truck to class because the a/c in my car decided to poop out.

You would think we would gradually work our way into winter fall.

But no. As of yesterday the wardrobe has changed to jeans, socks, love sleeve tee, hoodie zipped all the way up. I just needsome fingerless gloves for the hands.

the only benefit that comes with this weather? I don't have to worry about repainting my toe nails.

Can U Canoe?

Ryan & Rachel Canoe!

YEY for nature and the great outdoors! Ryan & I spent a lazy Sunday at the park where we paddled, enjoyed nature, picnicked, and 'hiked.' (hiked is used loosely here).

Saturday was spent at the AirForce/Navy football game in Annapolis followed by a pathetic Gator game. The Gators deserved to lose.

Pictures of the AirForce/Navy game to follow (internet seems to be slllooow).