So much to do, so little time . . .

Ok, so I haven't posted in a few days. So sorry. Life has gotten a bit outta hand. Not only do I have finals coming up, but I'm still having to fit work in somewhere. I did work yesterday. I tell you what, working one day every week or two is for the birds. My legs can't take not knowing what is going on! Oh well, at least I am able to get caught up on stuff today. Only one lecture day left in this semester. I really can't believe how fast it has gone. I only have one clinical day left. Then one scenario, one theory final, and one lab final and I can call it quits until the end of August. WOW!! Who thought I'd really make it this far? I know, I know, you are all out there just shaking your heads at me, saying that you knew I could do it. Well, I have. Only three semesters left and I'll be able to take the NCLEX and be a full-fledged RN. Ok, I must really go study, so I can get to second semester. Hope you all have a great week. Until next time. . . cj

Ok, so the t-shirt situation got a little bit out of hand. We had to split them all up again and get repacked on Friday night. They were spread out all over one of the rooms. I don't think any of us thought we would ever get the shirts divided up.

The flowers were just too pretty to pass up and the other picture was a building I found facsinating.

That's all the pictures I have from Baltimore. Don't forgot to keep scrolling (if you haven't seen the post with 5 or 6 more pictures). A lot of my pictures didn't turn out real good. But at least you know I was really out of town!!

Until next time . . . cj

Pictures as promised

Ok, so it took me two full weeks, but at least I finally got the pictures downloaded to my computer. I'll share a few of them with you. I'll post more of them later! Enjoy! cj

Catching up is great to do!

Today was my "catch up" day. Not only did I get caught up on laundry and housework, I also was able to get caught up on some of my reading for school. This is no minor feat considering I have a major project due tomorrow. "Why, Crystal," you ask, "how ever were you able to do this?" Well, it all started on Friday when I actually started working on perfecting my care plan!! Imagine that I didn't procastinate!! Then, when I called in to work, they didn't need me. In fact, they had called off several other techs, so the chances of me working even if I had been on the schedule were next to none. So, I continued working on this project until last night, when I finished it. What a wonderful feeling to be able to put my finished product in the envelope and then into my backpack two full nights before it is due!! What a concept. I can get so much done when I don't have to work. (Don't let my bills know of course, we'll keep this between us!)

Then, I decided to call one of my old friends today. I had to leave a message, but she called me back as I was headed to the park to continue my reading. We talked for almost an hour catching up on what's been happening for the past six months or so! Ellyn, it was wonderful to talk to you! We'll have to do it again soon!

I enjoyed my stay at the park. I took my blanket and my Lehne (pharmacology book) and headed out for a shady spot at the park. I got there and found the perfect tree. It was nice and shady and had a beautiful breeze. I was able to get through two chapters before I decided the bugs had had enough of me for the day. As long as the temperatures stay like they have been, I'm sure I'll venture out there again soon. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it!!

I must get back to my catching up. It's going to feel great to start a week off all caught up. I hope your weekend has been just as productive as mine. Take care buntil next time . . . cj

Homework, homework and more homework still

If you could see my desk, you would be utterly amazed at the amount of paperwork I have to do. I am about half-way through my second major nursing care plan for the semester. This is 15% of my clinical grade. It seems to be going much smoother than the first one did. I guess part of that has to do with the fact that I actually know what I'm doing. Everything seems to be flowing nicely. Of course I still have tons of reading to do this weekend. I have to get caught up on the reading from last Monday and the reading for this Monday. I'm trying to get ahead, so I don't get behind, since we only have two lectures left before the final, but I don't know how well that is going to work. It seems like the end of the semester always sneaks up on you no matter how well prepared you try to be. So, my weekend will be comprised of homework. If work happens to call me in, I will go. (I was a good girl and called and offered my services! I do need money after all! If you have anything you'd like to donate, please feel free to contact me. I'll be happy to give you my paypal address!!) Have a great weekend. Looks like it's going to be a lot cooler here. We got some rain along with a cold front, so I'm a lot happier!! I'll touch base with you later on. Until then . . . cj

A Sense of Humor

Ok, so this doesn't describe me totally, but I thought I'd give you something to laugh about today. I ran across this website with the help of some fellow students and we have a ball with it. I'm sure you'll see many more! Have a great night! cj

still hot . . .

if you need to defrost from a cold winter (not that i think any of us had a miserable winter), please feel free to come and visit me. we have now officially had TWO, count them, TWO days over 100 degrees in APRIL!! what kind of spring is that?!?! i know, i know, we all complain, but come on already. i can deal with this just fine in june, but i want pretty weather. i want to be able to open my windows and not suffocate!!

other than that, i'm surviving. just finishing up my clinical paperwork for another day. (only four left this semester!! woo hoo ~ lets have a party!!) i do, however, want to send well wishes to my sweet nephew, devon. he feel off a horse named spoon this weekend and fractured his wrist. he's been x-rayed several times and goes back to the doctor on thursday to see about a hard cast. poor guy took it like a champ. he was so cute and told me, "pickle, the nurse was so gentle when she was cleaning me up!" but, he did say the doctor told him he can't ride horses for awhile. he was kinda bummed! devon, hang in there buddy! remember that aunt pickle loves you lots!

until next time . . . cj

hot, sticky, and overall just miserable . . .

ok, so it's april 17th. it's not supposed to be in the upper 90's until at least late may or early june. give me a break. yesterday i think we hit 97 and today was pretty close to that. on top of that, we have the lovely texas humidity to go along with it. you can't walk outside without sweating (even if you don't sweat!) i am really looking forward to graduation day. . . why you ask, well let me fill you in on a little secret. i don't plan on staying in texas. i'm not sure where i'm going to go, but it's not going to be in the south (cuz i don't like the heat). i'm not sure what i'm going to do (other than nursing), but i'm sure i'll find a place to call home. in the meantime, i must turn the ac down another notch and get ready to call it a night. btw, i passed another lab scenario and theory exam all within 5 days of each other. i'm so ready for this semester to be and to have the summer off that i don't know what to do. have a good night and until next time . . . cj

Bragging Rights . . .

Ok, so those of you who really know me, know how much I love and admire my dad. The picture above was taken at Christmas. Dad was showing Devon his "blue light" in his truck. (This picture will make a little more sense as you keep reading!) I was chatting with him online last night and he asked me if mom had told me about his award. I told him that she didn't, so he proceeded to tell me about it. I would like to share with you what he told me (even though I haven't gotten permission, sorry dad!). Let me preface this by telling you my dad is the Chaplain for the volunteer Fire Department in Machesney Park, Illinois. He loves what he does with the department and it shows when he is talking about it. Here's part of our conversation. "Saturday was our FD annual awards and memorial banquet. I did the memorial, then we ate and they gave out all the awards for the year. They had finished all the awards except 'the big one.' The chief started talking about the criteria for selection . . . basically nominated by the firefighters, reviewed by the command staff, and then secret ballot. The person has to have demonstrated excellence in the performance of duty, made themselves better through further training, and made a difference in the department. Then he started talking about all the things that award winner did for the department. I was sitting next to the guy that I thought fit that criteria. Then the chief said . . . the winner of this year's Lynn C. Ray award is . . . Chaplain Dan Boggs. I couldn't even speak. . . What a huge honor!" By the time I was finished reading this, I was crying. I'm so proud of daddy and what he has done for the community. He has made such an impact on this FD that they gave him their highest honor! This Saturday, he will be awarded the firefighter of the year award at the VFW Firefighters award banquet. My heart swelled with joy and love when we were talking. I wish so badly that I could be there. I know that he knows I'm there in spirit. This award means so much to him, the department is so important to him. Thank you for sharing this with me, daddy, and thank you for letting me share with my friends (even though you didn't know before hand!!) You deserve such a big pat on the back and this is best way I could think of to honor you! You have shown me yet again why you remain the center of our family's universe!! Thank you for teaching us how to serve others and raising us the best you knew how!! I truly am where I am today because of the love you and mom have continued to show me throughout the struggles of my life. Keep up the good work! I love you!! Crystal Jean

Home again, home again. . . .

What a trip! I had a blast in Baltimore. It was a learning experience to say the least! If you have never travelled with a group, you are missing out. You get to know people in a way that you never thought possible, especially if that group is a group of nursing students. We tend to talk about things that others wouldn't even think about discussing in the privacy of their homes! Let me see if I can give you a brief overview of our trip by day.

Wednesday morning started off very dark and very early. I was up at 2:45 am to get ready to leave for the airport. Our flight left at 6:00, but we had to be there by 4:45. I wanted to make sure I had everything in order, so I got up and got ready to go. By the time we got to the airport, we were not quite up and running, but we pretended to be ready to go! Bags got checked and boarding passes printed. Starbucks was our friend! There's nothing quite like a good cinnamon dolce (which they were out of) to get me going. I improvised with something similiar! I guess at this point, I should introduce you to everyone. Our advisors were Mrs. Jenkins, a third semester instructor and Dr. Mixson, a first semester instructor. Of course, you know me; Eric, first semester; Heather, second semester; Cirrie, second semester; Sheila, third semester, and Pam, third semester. We got boarded and we scattered throughout the plane, though the flight was rather empty, so after we took off, we were able to move around a bit. And off we went to Minneapolis/St. Paul. The flight there wasn't too bad. No tremendous turbulance as such and we had plenty of time to wander the airport mall there before our next flight took off. We all grabbed some breakfast, since we were waking up and realizing that it was time to eat! As we boarded this plane, we noticed that it was rather full. We found our seats, and again we were scattered. I was lucky enough to have a center seat next to a man who should have had two seats and a woman who only needed half a seat. Well, we sat and sat and sat and waited for the plane to move. Finally, the pilot came over the intercom and told us the mechanics were looking at the engine and it would be a few minutes. Over an hour later, we were deboarded, and sent to another gate, due to a dent in the engine. So, we reboarded and took off almost 2 hours late. As we were descending into Baltimore, the turbulance was bad. When I tell you it was bad, I mean the plane was going back and forth and up and down and those who normally have strong stomachs were not feeling so hot when we got off the plane! Thankfully, I didn't get too sick. I didn't feel so hot until we got outside, but I was ok. We got our luggage and made our way to the light rail to go to the hotel. It took about 20-30 minutes to get to the hotel from the airport because of all the stops, but it was cheap and we were in Balitmore, so we didn't care. Once we got to our stop, we only had about 5 or 6 blocks (I think) to pull our luggage. Well, in theory this would be great, but remember I told- you we came in on the light rail. We also decided it would be a great idea to sell t-shirts at convention. One of the girls had a box propped up against her suitcase and it kept falling off. Of course, this kept happening on the tracks. We were all laughing so hard because she was kicking it across the tracks! Finally, we made it to the hotel, got checked in and set our time to meet to register for convention. We walked over to the convention center to register and then down to the harbor for dinner. We ate at a wonderful seafood restaurant (because you can't go to the coast and eat mexican food!) with a beautiful view of the harbor. I had this salmon that just melted in my mouth. We were all starving because we really hadn't had anything except our breakfast in the airport. Our airline makes you buy your snacks!!! Even the bread they served was just divine!! We enjoyed our dinner and made our way back to the hotel. The wind was awful cold and as we got closer to the hotel, we walked faster and faster. I think we all slept good because it had been a long day. (Ok, Wednesday was a long day, I couldn't leave out too many details, I know you all wanted to know about it. I'll try to be better with the rest of the days!)

Thursday morning we all met at our t-shirt table at 8, i think. A couple of us we up early, so we walked down to the harbor for breakfast, only to find out that there were no breakfast places down there. So we got a few early morning pictures and a cup of coffee and enjoyed the beautiful morning. Most of our days consisted of selling t-shirts and attending sessions. The main point of nationals is to set the bylaws and such for the next school year. We had one delegate, Eric, who had to sit through all the discussions of the resolutions and voting and such that goes along with that. The rest of the time was learning sessions and exhibit hall. We got to go through all these booths. Rows and rows of vendors who want you to work for them, or go to school with them, or buy their product. Most of them have some sort of free products, either pens or something else. I came back with bags full of stuff. Not all of it is for me. I brought stuff back to share with my class and to hopefully encourage them to get involved with our CSNA group and excited about next year. It was a long day, but not as long as Wednesday. We were able to make it out for lunch (actually some of the others went and I stayed and did t-shirt duty so I could attend afternoon sessions and had them bring me back lunch). For dinner, we met at 7 and walked back down to the harbor for hamburger at the ESPN Zone. By the time we got home (or to the hotel), we were all exhausted. I was so tired I couldn't really sleep. Part of that could have been due to the fact that the fire station was right across the street and sirens ran literally all night and part of that I'm sure was due to information overload!! I did sleep some . . . and off we go to

Friday we didn't meet until 8:30 (do you notice a trend here?!?) T-shirt sales were going great. We took two designs and by Friday, we were pretty much out of one of them! By now, my feet are screaming. I can't believe how much we walk, and how poorly I planned. I really never have been to a convention before, but I should've known better. I took sandals and my no support tennis shoes. Next time, I will know better! Friday was pretty much the same as Thurday. Lots of t-shirts for sale and focus sessions to go to and exhibits to visit. For dinner, we decided to rent a cab and visit a different part of town (or so we thought). We went down to Little Italy and had some wonderful Italian food. The cab ride was almost $10 and we were just on the other side of the harbor. But, we didn't know where it was. At least we had someone in our group that had a wonderful sense of direction (unlike myself)! As we were walking back to the hotel, I was visiting with one of the girls, Cirrie. She was telling me about a trip she took to Germany in the late 90's, so I was asking her questions about it and why she went and such. Well, it turns out that Cirrie and I went to Lubbock Christian University at the same time. The more time I spent with her the more she looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. The world gets smaller and smaller everyday. From that point on, you couldn't shut the two of us up! We got back to the hotel and had to divvie up t-shirts, so we could all pack our stuff, since we were leaving the next day! Well, if you have ever been with a group of women for more than a couple hours who haven't had much sleep, we can get kinda cranky. We all have our own way of doing things and such. So finally, we got our shirts sorted and I got back to my room. I so didn't feel like packing, so I went to bed and set my alarm for . . .

5:00 am Saturday morning. I got up and showered and packed. It is much easier to pack when you are rested. I had to arrange and rearrange, but it all fit. Plus, we were still selling t-shirts, so there was a little more hope!! We got to the convention center with all our bags because we had to check out of the hotel. There were no more focus sessions. Todays point was to vote on the resolutions and to announce next years officers for NSNA. It was slower, but we enjoyed the bit of rest. We left at 2:15 for the train stop and got to the airport in time to checkin, go to the bathroom, get a drink and board our plane. This time, we flew to Detriot. There were no major delays or anything like that. And, we all got to sit pretty much together. That made it nice. We had just spent all this time getting to know one another and I'm sure the other passengers on the plane were glad we were sitting together. We were laughing and having a great time. Our layover in Detriot was minimal. And off we flew to DFW. I don't even remember taking off! I wasn't feeling too hot, so I propped my quillow up against the window and fell asleep. We made it in 1/2 an hour early and no luggage was lost. We had a blast! I have met some new friends (and contacts in semesters ahead of me). I'm looking forward to next years conference. In fact, I think we are talking about going to mid-year conference in Atlanta. Should be fun.

Thank you 7 for a fun trip. We laughed and walked, and didn't know if we would sell t-shirts, but we learned a lot and have a lot of good ideas. I will post pictures next time. I have taken up enough space for now, besides, I really need to study, and do laundry, and sort through all my freebies!!

Until then . . . cj

On My Way . . .

Well, this time tomorrow, I will be in Baltimore. I am ready for a change of pace. It should be fun. If I could get everything cleaned up and packed, I'd be in much better shape. I have to get up at 3 AM! The thought of that just makes me sick!!! I need to get busy and get finished so that I can get to bed before too long. Just wanted to remind you that I will be out of comission for a few days. I'll post when I get home, so you can see pics and here lots of stories (if I remember them all!) Don't have too much fun without me. I'll update you when I get home! Until then . . . cj

Getting ready . . .

I love going on trips, but this one is really starting to stress me out. I have never been to Baltimore before and am excited about going, but the closer we get to leaving, the more stuff we find out that we are going to be doing (selling t-shirts, etc). On top of all of these new things we are going to be doing, I have to be prepared to do a medication scenario when I return (of course it won't be until Thursday, but still, I will miss Thursday's practice lab). All of this adventure is exciting, but next time, I'm going to have to look at my calendar a little bit closer. I will keep you updated as to what is going on with the trip as I find out more. I hope you all were able to spring forward this morning. I didn't even know it was spring forward day until I looked at my computer and then my calendar! Oh well, such is life. Have a very happy spring Sunday. Until next time . . . cj