escaping for the weekend

Rolo knows somethings up...

My man definitely knows how to make me happy. After a long week of cleaning out Grandma's apartment, her viewing, and funeral, I am more ready for a break from life than I ever have been. John is wisking me away to the Outer Banks for the weekend so I can get a little R & R before starting my new job in a week from Monday. Thank God for having a man like him :) He will be doing a little work, but I plan on doing some knitting, reading, walking on the beach, and just vegging out. I'm headed to the gym now so I don't feel like a complete slug when I return, but can't wait to leave in a few hours :)

Grandma's funeral was beautiful. The minister did an amazing job in the sermon talking about what a wonderful life she had led, making me burst into tears when talking about how proud she was of me. She would have loved every second of it and I know she was smiling down on us :)

Anywho, peace out RVA... busy week next week with my last 3 days as a care partner and graduation Thursday!

xo

B

the slacker is back

What a crazy start to the year! First off, celebration is due because I passed my nursing boards f and am officially a Registered Nurse! YIPPEE!!!!!! But celebrations was cut short when my grandma was hospitalized last Thursday because she had developed an irregular heart rhythm called A. fib, which causes the heart to just quiver instead of ejecting the blood properly. This causes clots to form in the heart, and once they move from the heart, can get lodged in different places, for her in her right femoral artery, cutting off all circulation to her leg. SO, the doctor did emergency surgery Thursday night and removed the clot, but it seemed to be too late, because she rapidly declined through Friday and Saturday and passed away very peacefully Saturday evening. BAM, just like that, my 96 year old grandma is just gone forever. I think the shock is still lingering that she is gone. Mom and I have been spending lots of time together cleaning out her apartment, sharing stories and fun memories of her life. Thankfully, my work was very flexible for me and let me off all week. The viewing is tomorrow and the funeral will be Thursday. We will be moving the big furniture out on Saturday. I love and miss you already grandma, but I hope you are enjoying the homecoming with your 2 husbands who both preceded her in death and her 12 brothers and sisters, which she was the last surviving.

But anyways, back to reality, not that I really know what reality feels like since there's been so much changing over the past several weeks. One more week of work at MCV as a care partner, then graduation next Thursday, and begin my nursing orientation the last week of January! I even got my picture taken yesterday for my badge :) New beginnings my friends, all looking very exciting and promising! Now if I could just get myself back in gear with my workouts....

I deserved an adult beverage after today.

What a day. So that I may abide by my patient privacy responsibilities as a health care provider, I will spare the details, but I absolutely had an "ah-ha" moment today, remembering why I wanted to become a nurse in the first place. The fact that I have had so many blessings to put me where I am today, that I have my health, my family (whom I love with all my heart), a roof to sleep under, food on the table, and a grand future ahead of me is why I was put on this planet to help those in this world who were not bestowed these blessings. Can I figure out why bad things happen to good people? No, but I want to help them and hopefully make a difference in their life just by being their care provider while they are at their worst, as a patient in the hospital.

Anyways, a sweet old patient told me I looked just like Ashley Judd :) Definitely never heard that one before! I got on the Wii Fit yesterday to see what my progress was, and as Nov 2nd, I have lost 18 lbs total since January :) Possibly gained all that back tonight from the Chipotle I had for dinner (comfort food!), but I am going to run tomorrow :)

I'm about to go cross-eyed from my 12.5 hour shift and I have early clinical on the ole pediatrics unit tomorrow... bedtime for this brain-dead gal! xo

Please live healthy!

So after two straight days of working, I have been absolutely burnt out by caring for people who never took care of themselves and their bodies are in shambles due to poor lifestyle. These are also the people that treat hospital stays like a hotel room at the Embassy Suites. Constantly on the call bell, asking for the 10th pair of disposable underwear, asking for that other type of juice because the juice that they chose this morning on their menu just won't due now, even going to the point of asking me (who also has 21 other patients) to go to the cafeteria to buy them chicken nuggets. Really?! I mean really?! There is a patient two doors down that actually NEEDS my help and feels bad even asking for me to hand them a urinal out of their reach when they can't walk. ANYWHO! Over it, moving on!

I applied to my first real nursing job today! Pediatric ED... could definitely be exciting! I am at a crossroads on what I want to do with myself. I am definitely not a general floor kinda girl, I would be bored out of my brain. I have absolutely LOVED my cardiac rotations (post-LVAD, post-CABG surgical patients) and also had a blast in pediatrics. My clinical for my management class is on a pediatric unit, so maybe that will help me make a decision one way or another! Cardiac vs. Pediatrics, both very fun and exciting and the awesome thing about my career decision is that at some point of my life, I know that I will be able to do both :)

Off to bed early without much more fun to say (due to a burnt out brain). Early workout with Caroline in the AM so she can whoop my but into shape! I am pretty sure that I won't be able to walk by tomorrow night or laugh because we are doing lots of abs... I'll be sure to share her insane workout with everyone :)

Also, I'm having my brother & his girlfriend over for dinner tomorrow... what to cook?! Cooking Light will be my bedtime reading material...