Friday Night Lite

Okay, the room is well ordered and thoroughly cleaned. The preparations are complete for Region which begins tomorrow. I'm planning to be there early to set things up for breakfast and lunch, but only staying long enough to have it all complete. I'm sure my attention will be necessary at some point, but I'm going to have to throw the ball to someone else. I'm tired, and I'm only just realizing that I've really only had about seven hours' sleep in the past three days. So much has been going on.

I'm finally finished with work. Ready to begin the new position, but I'm really hoping that I will have some time to rest and relax and have something like a vacation before August hits me hard and fast mid-way through... About to start getting ready for bed.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures I've posted from the events that transpired over the past several days.

Final Post

Angie reading the card I picked for her. Ya know, the more I look at these pictures, maybe I did make a mistake... maybe I'm secretly into girls....











Nah... you're beautiful... but I still have to say... not without a miracle...

Stacie and Rhonda... guys, if I'm ever back, I'll be requesting to work with you both.

Angie's Going Away Party Photos

Angie didn't like the flash in this one, but I kinda thought it was cool...













Okay, I admit it... our kids would be great looking...












Man, who's that hottie standing beside Angie? Oh, that's me...












Ellie and her daughter Jaz (Jasmine?). Ellie is an awesome person. One of those people who glows from the inside out. She seems to be capable of doing anything anywhere in the world at any given time...

Jaz is my new BFF. I'm waiting for my pink pyramid....






What is Tena gonna do? Losing such an awesome nurse like Angie? And we're both going at the same time... didn't we start roughly at the same time? Maybe not. Just remember when I began to write your name on the treatment plans for interventions and all the times I'd come talk to you about special circumstances and the extra stuff you needed to know. I'm really gonna miss you, but now I've got a reason to come over to Wichita Falls. Looking forward to continuing our online correspondence.

Wow... Still More Pix

Jheri. She's a great nurse. And the perfect person to call to give report on a patient. I talk quickly (pressured speech?!) and have a lot of significant information to give in about twenty-seven seconds. She gets it all, and she can repeat it back to you. Word for word. Every detail. Every bit. Amazing.







Judy R.... I still haven't had an opportunity to graph your parabola....













My Mozelle... can't say too much here or I will get very upset. We had some rough times. We had some great times. We got through it all together... day by day. Gonna miss you. Stay off the Twilight Zone.










And always remember, when things get rough.... THIS TOO SHALL PASS.










I shoulda done these in reverse order. I'll have to remember that next time...

Another Five

Jeanne... she's got the goods on Nursing and running YEP.












This is the world of T.Jones, RN... schedules, requests, schedules, reports, schedules, phone calls, schedules, and running everything just as it's supposed to be....










Rhonda... happy, complacent, ready for anything...












Hey, Rhonda... the patient will be here at six o'cock... right before shift change... is that okay?












"Daddy", I was just getting to know you. Very interesting guy. The same advice I gave on Spence stands for this one, too, though. I think he could probably write a book that's on par with Chelsea Handler... or Max Tucker.

Even More Party Pix

You may ask yourself, how does she maintain? How does she keep a smiling face? How does she put up with Spence night after night after night? She's got some deep level of serenity that I will probably never have the slightest comprehension of... Thanks for all your help and encouragement, Bernita... don't think you're off the hook for questions, yet, though.








Yeah... Bernita's still smiling behind him... No, we have no idea what he's doing. Probably very excited to hear that he will be getting bleached and felched later in the morning. Poor Shelley.










I didn't realize I was sideways... the gifts were essentials to surviving Nursing School. Clipboards, pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, post-its, paper clips, and smell good stuff (from Amelia, of course), along with NCLEX reviews, NCLEX study cards, a Nurse's Drug Reference.... and a Guide to Surviving Nursing School from Tammy and Mozelle.







Paula... didn't get to work with her for long, but I liked her. She's one of the "workers", never lazy, always helpful, great with the patients.










Mrs. Rhonda B... wow. Now, I was trained before I met her, but Rhonda REALLY trained me on how things really work. A beautiful person inside and out. Always fun. Always funny. Rarely stressed. Flawless in pink.

More Party Pix

Jeri from the Children's Unit came down for some grub and to give me a kiss good-bye.











Probably one of the best dudes to work with in the hospital. Another February 13th (along with Laura and me), we're all rockstars. Rod's always on my back to keep going with school and my writing. Really gonna miss "Buttercup"/"Rod-Stan". Rod, I guarantee I will have your name as one of the folks I dedicate the first book to when I put it out there. Keep takin' care of the Japanese Baby.






I guess that if you rub Ted's head, it's kinda like rubbing the Buddha's belly.... Jheri from Chirrin's.











Never trust this man. Never talk to this man. Never help this man. Never lend this man any money. Never believe that he's really going to help you. Never think for one second you will be safe. There is always an ulterior motive, and it probably has to do with you shaming yourself somehow... However, Chris is like my brother. He got the spread together, and I really hope the proud papa stays close to me for many years to come. He's one of the good guys. And a really good friend.

It's never really a party until Ted gets there....

The Party

"Now, guys... we have to clean this up when we're done!"














Laura with Jason... another guy I'm definitely gonna miss...











The spread... hot dogs, chile, fritos, lots of cheese and all kinda stuff to load up the dogs....














A very ominous sign to anyone who has to spend the next four hours in an enclosed space with "Stinky" aka Laura.










The cakes were made especially for me by Judy R. Unfortunately, there were only crumbs left when I prepared to leave with one...

Going-Away Stuff

Laura and Tammy in the hall... preparing for the fest that I was not supposed to know anything about....









Alan and Frances being silly with Tam...

Tammy trying to make them go away, I guess...

Tammy... looking gorgeous... finally getting everyone to leave...

More B-Wood Pix

Me looking fabulous... preparing for my last night of work.











This, ladies and gentlemen, is the infamous chick. If only there were a picture of the sheep. The sheep was a baby that belonged to Sarah P. (my secret girlfriend) and myself. It was our love child. The sheep disappeared and was replaced by a "peep" (the chick). There was a long list of suspects that included several members of Intake as well as the CEO of the hospital. Eventually, we received a ransom demand for something like $100,000 in unmarked bills to be left in an empty pepperoni hot pocket box in the intake fridge if we ever wanted to see the sheep alive again.













The menagerie of babies that belongs to Sarah and me....

I'm quite sure Stacie was saying something to me here... probably: "DON'T... take my d*&@ picture...!"

My pick for the closest to perfect replacement for myself... Ebony aka "Hooker Mama".

Let The Pictures Begin

How do you like that? The chick I work most closely with besides my boss, and she REFUSES to be photographed by her BFF.









Oh, Laura, once again.... Well, guys. I have in my possession a very special gift from Jesus that is a close-up shot of her face at the best possible time (well, best or worst depending on who you are... I will contemplate it's posting....












My Jules. What will she do without my calls for updates of what I'm walking into? Julie, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I really enjoyed all the nights together. Even when Whitney wasn't around. I have three letters for you: DHH. Take cover. It's coming.
















Kristin. Very early. Remember her guys... if you ever see her in public, give her a postage stamp. And if you have any staples, she probably needs some of those, too.








Ebony, early in the night, contemplating how to word a treatment plan between admissions.

Be Prepared...

I'm preparing for bed so that I can awaken for my final shift at Brentwood. I'm in good spirits. Talked to the DON last night and experienced a sense of closure with the whole baby's mama drama that was bubbling inside. My final feeling with which I departed was that sometime's it better to not say anything at all, especially when all that you're thinking of saying is a bit less than positive.

Fear not, young Jedis, friends, and followers... there are many more comprehensive and descriptive blogs to come... along with a litany of pictures from the finals nights at the B-wood.

Will be closing my eyes with warm fuzzies... an email arrived from Malawi. The PCV is alive and well.

I miss him.

Giada is Porn for Food Lovers

I'm sitting in the den, on the green couch, watching Giada at Home and thinking yet again that her shows are filmed like porn for people who really love food. Seriously, she's always dressed in trendy, cleavage-revealing shirts, smiling (slightly demonically), and making sexy eyes at the audience when she breaks the wall and talks directly to her viewers. Still, I think she's the type of chick that would be a lot of fun to have dinner with and probably even more fun to have as a guest at a party. However, I'd be very worried about anything I served. What would her critique be? And would she be able to enjoy herself without silently judging my food?

I'm thinking about submitting myself for a reality show, but which one? I don't want to have to eat bugs or live by my wits under the beating, hot sun of an island. I don't really have any great skills that I could compete with other than Algebra, completing a nursing assessment, or writing a really great psychiatric treatment plan. There are no shows that allow you to write 2,000-word essays each week to compete for a job as a professional writer, and if there were, I don't think it would have very many viewers other than those who love to read and write. Furthermore, most people who follow reality shows probably don't do much of either.

I'm not talented enough for home improvement to go on Design Star, and I don't have the culinary capabilities to be the Next Food Network Star. If only I could market my skills as a single guy throwing together ingredients on a shoestring budget and packing the fridge with enough bowls and tupperware to feed myself for a week. I think there may be a Food Network market for the idea, but it's just the idea of having to compete with those who have been to chef schools and studied in Paris or New York as sous chefs at five star restaurants and hotels.

I guess I'll just stick with school and writing on the side. I still want to write a bi-weekly article/serial newsletter in the style of Armistead Maupin, but set in Shreveport and filled with innuendo and double entendre to keep readers reading and to eventually turn the stories into a novel. I guess I'll need to wait another two years before I will be able to write more frequently. After all, Dad always said that I could write, but I needed to be sure I'd have something profitable to fall back on.

Anything but SUNday

The day has been almost non-stop since I got out of bed (well, off the couch) this morning. After I downed a shot of 5-Hour Energy, I got in my personal temple (the bathroom) to read the daily meditation before getting online to begin checking my school stuff and updating the various things that needed updating. I even managed to blog a bit about all the reasons that I haven't been blogging recently.

I got in the kitchen and prepped some pasta salad and some regular salad that I tossed with feta and mushrooms to refrigerate for salad sides throughout the week. It's nice having everything prepared and ready to run for a quick fix meal. The clothes were washed and hung and folded and put away, and I think I've burned about ten sticks of incense in every room in the house.

Mary was a little surprised when I got in from picking up the monthly maintenaince prescriptions (I never thought of them as such until my insurance company forced me to switch pharmacies and request 90 day bottles of the stuff for my stomach and the other stuff for the shaking) at CVS and ran a bathtub just for her. I have to get in the water with her or she won't let me wash her. If I'm outside the tub, she wraps her arms and legs around my arm and holds on tight to get me to pull her out. I jumped in and got her washed and then dried. She's around here somewhere. Of course, when the animal was bathed, the bathroom required a thorough cleansing and drying (Mary must've known I was blogging about her... she just creeped in here).

I have the Student Nursing Planner that I need to get ready to start adding things to (the basics: addresses, numbers, insurance information, class schedules, and other important information) so that I can start filling it out as the fall semester is approaching sooner than it seems it should. My last day (night, really... why do I write day? it's never been day!) at the B-wood will be Wednesday, and I'm excited to have a few days to get my room cleaned and ready to study before I start my job at NSU. Can't wait to find out what my exact placement will be.

First Aid/CPR, Dr. G Marathons, Rain, Changes...

"...and these children that you spit on as they try to change their world are immune to your consultations, they're quite aware of what they're goin through...." -- David Bowie

I really need to be a bit more consistent. I have no reason for the lack of recent updates other than that I'm a lazy bastard and I have a lack of follow through.

Chemistry is done. I earned an A, and I feel pretty good about that. Chemistry is a difficult subject to master. You either get it or you don't. I'm one of the lucky few. I get it. However, I don't get it without extra studying, recopying notes, reworking multiple examples, and making hundreds and hundreds of notecards and charts and a series of pnuemonic devices for memorization.

I'm on the green couch in the den, which is where I suspect I'll remain for a majority of the day. Watching the intermittent storms as they move through the area and pay attention to about 35-40% of the Dr. G marathon that I have the opportunity to watch for the next twelve to fourteen hours.

I have three more shifts to go at the B-wood. My notice expires on Wednesday, and I'll be a free man to read and work out (yeah, right) and watch tv and spend time with Mary Louise and in the yard and cooking up a storm. My new position will be starting mid-month and classes will begin shortly thereafter.

The memorial service was yesterday for my grand-sponsor's husband of about one hundred years (I guess that would be one hundred gay years, which is, in the real world of breeders, a few less than that). I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I just know that I still can't hear TAPS and not feel overly emotional and guilty and start thinking about Dad and all the other memories that accompany that time of my life. Maybe with a bit more time to process the emotions, I can write.

Good Doctors and Wise Men

If

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

-- Rudyard Kipling

Chemistry Week 6 of 6

Once again, I allowed a couple days to lapse before I got back here and made another post. I stayed up late last night, making sure I was caught up on Chemistry notes as today begins the final week of this session... and I desperately want an A in the class. So far, that's right where I am, but I can't afford to lose sight of things or to slack off for even a brief while. I started off strong, and I plan to finish the same way.

I have Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves beside my bed, ready for me to be caught up with studying and ready for me to devour. I'm really looking forward to it, and I have been for several weeks.

I got up today feeling extremely lethargic... tired and a little listless. I think I'm coming down with something, so I will have one of the nurses at work listen to my chest and see if they hear anything that sounds like I might need to make an appointment with the PA for tomorrow or Wednesday.

Hope it's nothing.

More Dog Photos

I feel bad because I haven't been spending as much time with her lately. I feel bad because she's always 150% there for me, but I get busy with school and work...

I'm sure Mom's gonna love all the kisses.
More Mary...

I don't think that she particularly cares for all the anatomical stuff all over my room either.



Last one. Have to take more later.