Friday, April 18, 2014
My mom blog
Not sure if I've posted it before... but here is the link to my new, pregnancy/mom blog. www.pregnantparking.blogspot.com
Monday, July 16, 2012
Goodbye 26
My birthday is in a half hour (July 17th)! Seems like each year is just going by faster and faster...feels like my birthday last year just happened.
Can't believe I haven't written since February. I finished my 3rd semester of nursing school (maternity and psych!) I have been enjoying my summer break, and not looking forward to going back to school so much. I will be starting my LAST semester this fall. I can't believe it! I am very nervous though, I have to admit. This is when things "get real." Plus there are so many things to do during the semester; like apply for nursing jobs! I still don't feel ready or like a "real" nurse. I wish I had been able to get a SNPCT job (student nurse patient care tech) but they were just never posted. Instead I've been working for my father this summer, and reading way too many books (i've discovered a great love for Agatha Christie novels!), and watching way too much Netflix. I've also started volunteering at a city elementary school at a literacy program. I really love it, and know that I could have been a teacher if I wanted to. Working with small children just comes so naturally to me, and I really enjoy it.
What else? My mother lost her job after being out sick for 6 weeks (and on short term disability). I think it's better in the long run, the company was getting very shady. She is a dental hygenist and worked in the medical dept of a nursing home. It is not that easy to find a FT dental hygiene job, but once she does, she will make more money than she was making. She needed a change!
Oh! We got a dog! We rescued her from a local group, she was originally seized from a horder in KY, and brought to a high kill shelter. The rescue group from here went down there and brought back a bunch of dogs; she was one of them. She is a 1 yr old (age is approximate though) Boxer, and SO SO SO sweet. Seriously, one of the sweetest dogs since the white boxer my family had when I was a child. She is only 40 pounds, so she is VERY small for a Boxer, but I actually like her small size.
I've lost 30lbs and am feeling good about that, but still have more to lose. I've actually been slacking lately; my workouts have become non-existent. I am feeling flabby, even though I have not gainned any weight back. I really reccomend Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred; that DVD really jump started my weight loss.
Can't believe I haven't written since February. I finished my 3rd semester of nursing school (maternity and psych!) I have been enjoying my summer break, and not looking forward to going back to school so much. I will be starting my LAST semester this fall. I can't believe it! I am very nervous though, I have to admit. This is when things "get real." Plus there are so many things to do during the semester; like apply for nursing jobs! I still don't feel ready or like a "real" nurse. I wish I had been able to get a SNPCT job (student nurse patient care tech) but they were just never posted. Instead I've been working for my father this summer, and reading way too many books (i've discovered a great love for Agatha Christie novels!), and watching way too much Netflix. I've also started volunteering at a city elementary school at a literacy program. I really love it, and know that I could have been a teacher if I wanted to. Working with small children just comes so naturally to me, and I really enjoy it.
What else? My mother lost her job after being out sick for 6 weeks (and on short term disability). I think it's better in the long run, the company was getting very shady. She is a dental hygenist and worked in the medical dept of a nursing home. It is not that easy to find a FT dental hygiene job, but once she does, she will make more money than she was making. She needed a change!
Oh! We got a dog! We rescued her from a local group, she was originally seized from a horder in KY, and brought to a high kill shelter. The rescue group from here went down there and brought back a bunch of dogs; she was one of them. She is a 1 yr old (age is approximate though) Boxer, and SO SO SO sweet. Seriously, one of the sweetest dogs since the white boxer my family had when I was a child. She is only 40 pounds, so she is VERY small for a Boxer, but I actually like her small size.
First Day Home (she's not allowed on the furniture, but the couch was the first place she went to when she first came home!)
Walking around with her toy (and to show her little size)
I've lost 30lbs and am feeling good about that, but still have more to lose. I've actually been slacking lately; my workouts have become non-existent. I am feeling flabby, even though I have not gainned any weight back. I really reccomend Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred; that DVD really jump started my weight loss.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Rocking it!
I got an A yesterday on my first maternity nursing exam and I found out today that points wise,
got the highest grade in the class :) Yay! That has never happened before.
Friday, February 3, 2012
My name is Lauren...
and I am a drug addict. It's time I finally came clean about my addiction. It's an addiction that many Americans battle with, Americans who live in shame and shroud their addiction in secrecy, and jokes.
But it's a real problem. I can't even explain the panic when your nose starts to congest, and you can't breathe, and you can't find your Afrin. I have driven to the grocery store at midnight just to buy some, because I couldn't find my bottle. I buy multiple bottles; one for my house, one for my purse. I save Afrin bottles with only a few squirts left, to be used as back up/"just in case I lose my main bottle." It controls my life! I have to carry it on me, in case I get stuck somewhere and can't get home.
If I forget it, my day is shot. I stuff up, my voice changes due to the stuffiness, I can barely speak anyway, since I have to breathe through my mouth. Oh and not to mention, having to pay $3 every 2 weeks or so for a new bottle is ridiculous.
It can cause some scary health problems too. Loss of sense of taste and smell, nose bleeds, and in extreme situations, it eats away at your septum. Really, for an OTC nasal spray, this stuff is evil.
I've gotten off it before. Once. And another time I weaned down to just one squirt at night. The best way I've discovered to get off the stuff is to take a bottle of USELESS saline spray, dump 1/2-1/3 out, and then put 1/2-1/3 of Afrin in. Gradually you add less and less of the Afrin, until all that's left is the saline. It is hell on earth, and I don't know how some people do it cold turkey.
That's the plan. Starting tomorrow, the weaning begins!
I am addicted to Oxymetazoline. Better known as Afrin nasal spray.
 |
| Evil. Evil. Evil. |
It's funny, I know. In fact, one of my favorite episodes of King of Queens is this one:
But it's a real problem. I can't even explain the panic when your nose starts to congest, and you can't breathe, and you can't find your Afrin. I have driven to the grocery store at midnight just to buy some, because I couldn't find my bottle. I buy multiple bottles; one for my house, one for my purse. I save Afrin bottles with only a few squirts left, to be used as back up/"just in case I lose my main bottle." It controls my life! I have to carry it on me, in case I get stuck somewhere and can't get home.
If I forget it, my day is shot. I stuff up, my voice changes due to the stuffiness, I can barely speak anyway, since I have to breathe through my mouth. Oh and not to mention, having to pay $3 every 2 weeks or so for a new bottle is ridiculous.
It can cause some scary health problems too. Loss of sense of taste and smell, nose bleeds, and in extreme situations, it eats away at your septum. Really, for an OTC nasal spray, this stuff is evil.
I've gotten off it before. Once. And another time I weaned down to just one squirt at night. The best way I've discovered to get off the stuff is to take a bottle of USELESS saline spray, dump 1/2-1/3 out, and then put 1/2-1/3 of Afrin in. Gradually you add less and less of the Afrin, until all that's left is the saline. It is hell on earth, and I don't know how some people do it cold turkey.
That's the plan. Starting tomorrow, the weaning begins!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Maternity
This post is not exciting or well crafted, but I have to get it down now!
I had my first day of clinical in the maternity center, and it was awesome! I'm on labor and delivery right now (verses mother & baby). I got to see a C/S birth, and the recovery after. After lunch I got to hang in the NICU.
I REALLY hope I get to see a vaginal delivery next week. Two of the other girls did today, and one even got to cut the cord!! It was just luck of the draw. We only get 2 weeks on L & D, and then 2 weeks on M & B and that's it! Our time there is so short, we do 2 other weeks on campus with simulations, which kind of sucks.
I absolutely LOVE maternity though. What an AMAZING experience. I was so blessed to be allowed to witness the birth of a new person, and be there on the BEST day of the new mother's life. Talk about giving you baby fever!
I had my first day of clinical in the maternity center, and it was awesome! I'm on labor and delivery right now (verses mother & baby). I got to see a C/S birth, and the recovery after. After lunch I got to hang in the NICU.
I REALLY hope I get to see a vaginal delivery next week. Two of the other girls did today, and one even got to cut the cord!! It was just luck of the draw. We only get 2 weeks on L & D, and then 2 weeks on M & B and that's it! Our time there is so short, we do 2 other weeks on campus with simulations, which kind of sucks.
I absolutely LOVE maternity though. What an AMAZING experience. I was so blessed to be allowed to witness the birth of a new person, and be there on the BEST day of the new mother's life. Talk about giving you baby fever!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Did I do?
Well. Kind of. I overslept this morning which was not part of my "doing," but part of that was due to some severe insomnia last night. The trip to the school bookstore was not completed (which would have subtracted from my joie de vivre, so not going is a good thing). However I also didn't take my grandmother to the nail salon, which would have added to my joie bank. So I think I broke even at that point.
However, I did make it to the library.
Which is ALWAYS a good thing, except for maybe when I'm cramming for an exam.
And I will be going to the gym tonight. Another bit of joie. All in all more joie than laziness and stagnation, so I will mark this day as successful!
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