All Caught Up

It seems crazy that I am approaching the weekend with everything caught up. I'm trying to think of things I'm missing. I did most of my music homework in music class, and am ahead on copying notes for pharmacology (I precopy the powerpoints before class when I can. It helps me retain it much better and is more focused than reading the chapter). I need to read a few more chapters for medsurg, which I have two hours to do this morning. They're not due till Monday, though, so I'll be ahead once I finish those. It's kind of...weird. There MUST be something I'm forgetting.

Ahhhhh!!

I am so upset. The internet at the library is not functioning properly and I've spent half an hour moving  around and playing with settings trying to get it to work. I hate wasting time.

This definitely is not 35k a year quality internet. Where does the money go, anyway?


Furthermore, there is seemingly no good way to print out chapters from the nursing ebooks for carrying around  here and there with me. I really, really dislike Elsevier. A chapter that should only be 30 pages turns out 88 pages printed, and there's no option to print every other page so you can make it double-sided.  Pasting it to Word to print it out results in 132 pages, since the formatting is all off. Changing the font to 9 point brings it down to 72 pages. WHY!? Why?! Why do they need to make us buy eBooks and then make them so useless?

I guess one last resort will be talking with Porter and seeing if he has PDF editing software in which he could make the font size smaller.

100th post!

Not too phenomenal but I thought I'd mention it :)

So, junior year of nursing has begun! It's not too bad, so far. In fact, outside of certain issues I have with the program itself, I am LOVING the material. We are learning things that we will use as nurses. A lot of prereqs, such as A&P and such, are necessary, but now we finally get to see how it all comes together. How would I know what happens to body systems in a dehydrated body unless I had studied A&P and pathophysiology? Now I am learning what to do about it and it makes sense. I think there is a lot from A&P that I take for granted -- doesn't everyone know what erythrocytes do in a hypertonic solution? ;)


I have the mornings for studying. It is great to have a block of time to do homework in. Once I'm home I have to tend to Aftasie and such, so I need to keep up with homework in the mornings so I can be freer in the afternoons. It's so much less stressful than last semester, even at the beginning. I went home between every class and just hung out at home all day. It was fun to do that, but it lead to a lot of stress when exams came up and I hadn't studied at all!


I missed my first voice class yesterday! I was sure it was a Tu-Th class and it turns out it's a Mo-Fr class. Still doable with my schedule, but I'm sad I missed the first one. The instructor is very good and I've been looking forward to taking a voice class with her for a while. It's only one credit, and it'll be good to have an excuse to do some music.

Well, the five-minute rest timer just went off so it's back to the books for another half hour before I go home.

One thing I really want to do this semester is improve my posture. I'm not sure, other than always being aware of it and practicing it. Are there exercises which can help you do that? I've had poor posture for so long I think my muscles are all out of whack and don't want to help me have good posture :( Speaking of posture, I'm sure it will come up in voice lessons and maybe my teacher will have some good advice.

School Starts Monday

I'm pretty ready for it. On the one hand, all I want to do is sleep and not have to do anything but on the other hand I'm looking forward to the structure of it.

Who knows when I'll blog next!! Probably from class ;)

Aftasie vs Back

And my back loses, every time! Today I got a few bouts of excruciating pain from what I think is my sacroiliac joint. I'm not sure that it's caused by a sacroiliac problem but that's what I assume it is. I've had back pain off and on since I was 17-18. I used to carry things that were way too heavy. I wouldn't listen when my dad said "Get two people to carry that!" No way, because I was strong enough to lift it! Sheesh, I remember hauling 90 pound bags of concrete around when we poured the cement in the backyard. That would be killing me now. Poor back. So abused.

It's not constant pain, thankfully. It's like a nerve pinches for a few seconds or minutes. It nearly always brings me to my knees or makes me unable to walk. Sometimes I just have to stand there until it goes away and I can walk again. Bleh. Well tomorrow I'm going to the doctor for a physical and I'm going to bring it up. In the meantime I am just going to stop carrying Aftasie. I have been trying to use gentler motions and have her do all of the work. I make her climb in the stroller, I have her step into the tub, etc etc. Usually I just grab her and swing her around where she needs to go. No more! I have to be proactive about this if I want to make it through this school year (and life!).

I think I have identified what causes it, and that is sweeping, mopping, or shovelling. Anything with that kind of motion that is repetitive. I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell my friend who I clean for occasionally that I can't do her floors anymore :( It's just too risky. What if I get to clinicals and my back is out?

Deleted Post

I started writing a post about my family but I deleted it. My status regarding that is simply sad. So sad. It hurts in the tenderest parts of my heart, and it is unbearable.


So reader, move on to something else, and I am off to study.

Final for Stats

So, my final for stats is due by Friday. I just need to make an appointment with the local Chemeketa Campus.

Here's the kicker (the type of thing I'd be updating FB with right now, if it were still active), we get to take one page of handwritten notes in with us!!!! What madness. I had no idea, and I've never heard of this. I have no worries about that now, really. I just need to write all of the formulas down and any notes I need. And write really small! Good thing I have fine gauge pens :D

Actually, my algebra teacher said we could have an index card for the final but it was at a penalty of several percentage points :P

Precocious Pottying

This summer Aftasie has spent a lot of time out of her diaper, mostly due to trying to combat the yeast.

One side effect is that we're very aware of when she's peeing or pooping. One day a few months ago I said something about myself using the bathroom to pee and Aftasie went right there in front of me on the floor! So we bought a potty chair and put her on it whenever we're in the bathroom. We've caught a fair number of poops because her facial expression makes is so obvious that she's about to poop. The only pee I catch, though, is first thing in the morning and I have to *jump* out of bed with her as soon as she gets up and says hi (she usually says hi many times when she first gets up. Probably many times because we just roll over and try to get more sleep!). Otherwise she pees on the bed. Oddly enough, I've discovered  that if she's diaperless, probably 3 out of 4 nights she doesn't pee at all during the night. If she has her diaper on she's always wet in the morning.

But anyway! Lately she's been saying "Mama! Mama! Mama!" with an intensity when she needs to poop. She wants me to help her on the potty chair. But today, she went in the bathroom BY HERSELF and put herself on the chair and PEED! I seriously couldn't believe it. She's not even 14 months old yet. I thought that maybe once she was two we'd introduce her to the idea of potty training, but if she continues on like this she'll probably be most of the way there by the time she's two.

Well, off I go. I have decided that I will go to bed at the same time as Aftasie tonight and get up early to do homework, instead of staying up late and doing it now. Hopefully she'll stay in bed another few hours after I get up and start getting some work done. She went to sleep about 15 minutes ago now, and if I'm not careful I'll get stuck here till midnight and beyond!

Life is Returning

I slowly feel the life coming back to me. I had a doctor's appointment at 1pm today, and I had to fast for 12 hours before. I was so hungry! And I had not a drop of coffee. I was worried it might affect my blood pressure, as it has been really high for me the past two times they've taken it there. It's usually around 100/60 and this time is was 102 over something, and the past few times it's been 125 and 130 over something (I never remember the second number!).

But anyway. I am sipping iced coffee, eating some food, and feeling much more alive. My headache is even going away. I have definitely developed a coffee habit. I started drinking three cups a morning last semester, because that's how much fits in my mug. It is a ritual that I would have such a hard time giving up. I do feel a lot more calm, however, and it's obvious that it affects my blood pressure.  These days that I'm at home all morning, I usually make 4 cups and drink the whole thing. When Porter is home with me, we usually make 6 cups and he sips on his one cup and I drink the rest!!! Definitely way too much. To help myself, I mixed the beans in our grinder in about a 1/3 regular to 2/3 decaf ratio.

Ah, how to stay calm. One way is to just do things. When I get lost in tasks, I feel a lot less stressed. When I use the pomodoro timer,  I'm not allowed to worry about anything but the immediate task at hand until I stop the cycles to take a major break! At the resting time I walk around and try to think about something totally unrelated. I have another stats exam this week and I have my homework that's due. Those are two very important and related tasks. However, I have done some prioritizing and I need to get prepared for the exam before doing this week's homework (this week is not covered). So I am going to work on prepping for the exam and not worry one whit over the homework. Once I'm done with the exam, I will start working on the homework.

If you think about it, why do anything stressed? You can only do what you can do, and you can't do what you can't do. So figure out how to do what you need to do, what you can change, how to do it, and then do it and don't worry.

One other bit of news on the stats front is that a classmate loaned me a TI83 calculator. I figured that a TI85 should do everything the TI83 does (and it does, I'm sure) but I was ready to tear my hair out trying to figure out some of the functions that the TI83 does at the touch of a button. All of the instructor notes are regarding this calculator and it is SUCH a relief to be able to follow the instructions given for our calculations. That is a big stress off of me.

New Dress!

Usually I buy dresses at the thrift store. I haven't been to the thrift store lately, though, and I rarely find dresses that fit right and are good for nursing in. Sooo, today I pulled out some fabric (that I got at the thrift store for $2.50!) and decided to try to make something. I was going to buy this pattern  but I can't nurse in it. Since I'll be nursing for who-knows-how-long and then some, I figured I should keep looking for a nursing pattern, or make one. 

I have never made anything actually wearable before, so I'm pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. It's jersey, so it's very forgiving. I took lots of measurements and traced it on the fabric with a sharpie and then cut it out. I added two french darts to the front piece, which doesn't show because of the nursing panels in the front. The panels were a little tricky but they're basically just two strips gathered a bit where they attach at the sides of the waist and sewn in at the tops and in front of the arms. Underneath, on the front piece I originally cut, there are two diagonal openings for nursing. To nurse you just lift up the side you want to nurse from and voila. There are some obvious problems, which are that I didn't really know how to finish the arm holes (I just folded over twice and stitched, but it's a little messy).  I also haven't hemmed it yet, so that's just the raw edge at the bottom. I planned for it just above the knee but I cut it long so I could figure out what to do with it. 

I could totally wear this on a daily basis. I need to make a slip, though, because all of the ones I have are inadequate. One is too small now and one just doesn't work -- too short and two flimsy. One problem about jersey and the line is underwear lines, which just need to be avoided at all costs. A proper slip would help prevent that, for sure. 

Since this was pretty simple to make, maybe I'll post instructions sometime. I am SO happy to have a dress I can nurse in. I have another piece of fabric but it's a wool blend and it will have to be dealt with in a more complicated manner. It will probably have to be lined, and I don't know if the panels in the front will work out the same. It will obviously need to be fitted a lot more carefully, and I don't have time at the moment to work it out. And then I will also have to put a zipper in it, which I haven't a clue how to do. Someday, though :) In the meantime, I think I'm going to keep a lookout for jersey or other knits and give this another go.

Aftasie's Yogurt Cone

We haven't given Aftasie ice cream other than a *bite* or two somewhere (I don't remember) and we don't intend to start her eating sweets for a while. So last night when we were having ice cream cones I decided I would line hers with honey Greek yogurt and see what she did with it. She loved it! She got it all over, too, so it's a fortunate thing that we were on the deck.

Right now she's out with the chickens. She LOVES the chickens. When we go out in the morning to take them out of the coop she starts waving when we're about halfway across the yard and says hi to them. Then once we're in the run she patiently walks around trying to pet them, and generally has fun with them. I wish we could have a few chickens, but without one tiny patch of grass, we definitely couldn't. Not to mention the landlord wouldn't stand for it. Our neighbor, who lets us use his yard, already has chickens but they're not an egg laying type. It still is fun to have chickens next door. They make me smile :) 

Rushed, Stressed, Frazzled, Underslept

I don't know if it's just because I've been gone from home for so long, or that it's only two weeks and change until school starts. Or because I've been procrastinating fairly regularly on my stats course.

I feel so frazzled. I hardly know what to do next. It helps me a lot to make lists and then follow them but I haven't made a list for today. I have been doing homework with this virtual egg timer. I do 25 minutes of homework followed by 5 minutes of break. I did probably 6 cycles yesterday and got a lot of homework done. I just get nervous about not being able to learn it, then I freeze, then I can't do anything, and so on. It's even making me doubt my ability to do nursing courses next semester! If only I *pass* this class, I will be happy. The grade doesn't transfer out to GFU so the only stipulation is passing. I have to pass the class, and pass the final, which is 500 points out of a 1000 point scale!

Statistics is just not my thing. I don't want to learn about it. I love math in general but not statistics. It IS boring. I know this because I was just practicing med calculations and I was enjoying it! :)

So, first thing on my list is to finish the rest of my five minute break, do 25 more minutes of homework, and then make a list of things to do.

Too Cluttered

Does anyone ever use the buttons at the ends of my posts? I highly doubt it, and I don't care about being tweeted or liked on FB so I took them off. ETA: Augh. I can't get them to go away. I think they are not removable for this theme. Bummer.

It's beautiful weather in Eugene. Aftasie and I spent the morning outside in the backyard with the chickens. Porter had to go to Salem for job-related stuff. We were going to go shopping for lunch but I realized I left the stroller in the car. I figured we'd just walk and take our time. Then I realized I had left my wallet in the car as well. So we stayed home.

It's not quite hot enough to go to the spray park but I think it will be in an hour or two! It's crazy that a hot weather alert is on for today and tomorrow. Last time we were here it rained and rained.

I'm trying to make last minute plans for school prep, since I only have three weeks left. I just feel like it's coming too fast! One thin I'm going to do is make a few batches of peanut sauce  to put in the freezer. I wish I could find a few other sauces like it that freeze well. It makes such an easy suppper. Cut up some chicken breast and cook in a skillet, take it out of the skillet and add chopped veggies. Add chicken and sauce and put over rice. Delicious!

Any good sauce recipes?

.

I sure wish I were in a band again :\

A rather facebook-y post

A list of artists that I'm thinking about right now that I love: 

• Vashti Bunyan
• Bob Dylan
• The Beatles
• The Who
• The Rolling Stones
• Led Zepplin
• Alison Krauss
• Coldplay
• Kaki King
• U2

Some of these are old friends by now, but most are new. What other music is out there yet to discover? 

Leaving Today!

And the traveling goes on and on. Today I'm leaving to housesit again for a friend. It was so much fun last time and I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun this time too -- much more fun, because Porter is done with school and not started work yet and this will be a little vacation for us. In all I will have spent a month in Eugene this summer!  Like a dream come true :)

The return trip from Kentucky was uneventful except for the 38,000 feet of descent in around 20 minutes, which was very uncomfortable on the ears. I was surprised not to see everyone else in the plane grabbing their ears in pain. Chewing gum helped little. We got up at 7am (4am PST), drove four hours to Cincinnati, took a one hour flight to Atlanta, had an hour and a half layover, then flew 5 hours to Portland, arriving at 7:15 pm (PST). We ended up arriving home at 9:30pm (PST). It was not so bad, though. Aftasie was happy most of the time and she slept for a few hours on the 5 hour flight. She had fun waving at passengers behind us, and playing with the man who was sitting next to us.

All in all, I was happy with the amount of clothing and stuff I brought. Were I to travel regularly, I would get a wardrobe that worked better. For some reason, the jeans I always wear at home were suddenly too tight, so I couldn't bring those. The pair of jeans I did bring are too tight in the waist generally, but ended up being so big by the end of the trip that they were falling down. The skirt I brought was too small in the waist as well, so I didn't wear it very much. I think I would get a pair or two of pants in a dark color and bring one nice top along with other casual tops. One thing to factor in is the weather. I knew it would be warm enough to go without a jacket but I didn't realize I would be practically drenched in sweat every day. It was definitely not practical to go wearing the same pair of jeans all week, so had I not brought the skirt I would have needed to either bring a second pair of pants to wear while one washed, or planned it so I could wash it overnight, which would mean bringing *something* to wear, whether it be PJs or a robe, while I ran around the house to the dryer and washer.