Dissection Day!

Peter--he was such a good lab rat....sure he got a little crazy in that super small cage every now and then...but what can ya say...a lab rats gotta live to right?! WRONG!!!!
Today was dissection day in bio lab....and let me just say....even a super nerd like me who loves to learn new things....has a soft spot in their heart for those cute little rats!!!!!  RIP Peter!!! Hope you're tearin it up in lab rat heaven!!!



So first we had to put poor Peter in this jar...with KOH (potassium hydroxide) tablets (seen in the little test tube...b/c its an acid and would probably kill poor Peter--heaven forbid)....put a big huge stopper on the top (to seal off all the oxygen)---on this stopper was a pipette with its bottom end stuck in a jar of green ink. So after about 10 minutes the ink started going up the pipette...signifying the respiration of poor little Peter (who was suffocating inside) Once we measured the ink traveling up the pipette for 10 min..we then had to shock Peter in this jar by putting it in ice/cold water and measuring his rate of respiration through the traveling ink once again for about 10 minutes. At the risk of poor Peters life I learned that in colder temperatures "warm blooded" animals (i.e. we produce our own heat thru metabolism of energy) have higher metabolism rates due to the high energy it takes for us to keep ourselves warm---this is good news folks...not only does shivering burn calories...it also takes more energy to keep yourself warm and thus burning more calories equaling a significantly skinnier booty for yours truly!

So after poor Peter has been suffocated and shocked from drastic temperature changes...a "trained professional" had to take him into the other room to inject him with CO2 and that's right---euthanize him!!!! So sad!!! We then had to cut him open and identify his cute little insides....(as seen below--not in the real version of course b/c I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of the deceased)

So I'm sure I'll be having nightmares of poor Peter for the next week....which will be replaced next week by poor baby Wilber... not looking forward to the poor pig fetus we'll be picking apart next week....say your prayers folks...for lab animal heaven...open those gates Peter...your friends are comin home!!!!

Greatest way EVER to start your week...

TWO amazingly awesome phone calls...FULL of fantastic news....is the only way I know to start a Monday!

First, I got a fantabulous phone call from the sweet lady in the HR department at the hospital...saying that ALL THREE nurse managers I interviewed with on Friday (Cardiology, the OR, AND Neurology) wanted to offer me the nursing assistant job....that means I must have rocked their socks off with my sweet southern charm! So I got to choose which position I wanted....and of course I choose Cardiology!!!!!  I'm soooooo stoked!!!! The nurse manager I interviewed with was soooooo nice....she took me around the unit, introduced me to a few of the nurses (who were also super super nice!!!) and showed me lots of things I'd be doing on a daily basis (i.e. restocking supplies, I/O tally, baths, blood sugar checks, delivering specimens to the lab, helping with transporting patients, and hourly rounds making sure patients are comfortable, making sure the call lights are within reach, making sure the patient doesn't need help to the restroom or help with bedpan, refilling fluids as needed, and reporting to the next shift)--I'll be working roughly 2 days a week and every other weekend (getting extra pay for evening/weekend shifts---basically every shift I'll be working) I'll be working with acute and chronic patients all having some type of underlying heart condition....the unit has 27 beds and is set up in 4 pods usually with 2 N.A's in the day and 2 in the evening with an assignment of 3-4 patients during the day and 4-5 at night. I'm crossing my fingers for some super awesome nurses who are willing to teach me loads of information that will help me learn things for my clinical courses so I can rock those too! Stay tuned for orientation week starting March 14th 8-4:30...and then the real work starts the week after that!!! :)
Be a nerd like me and check out some Cardiology info at UI Hospitals and Clinics

The second phone call came a few hours later....about our apartment that we viewed on Thursday of last week and absolutely LOVED!!!! We are apparently not hard criminals and have good credit...SWEET! Our move in date is set for March 10th (also the birth date of BFF Anna's sweet Ava Kate--aka: baby weavus) with hopes of maybe getting to move some smaller stuff in sometime throughout the week!
Check out the floor plans etc.--pictures will be coming soon!

It looks like everything is finally coming together!!! Can't wait to get settled and start working!!!

Cross those fingers!!!!

I'm soooo stoked!!! I never thought I would be so excited to have even the POSSIBILITY of a job....but I am beyond ecstatic! I got a call yesterday from the HR department at the hospital saying "who they hell are you and why have you applied for 7684936749375834976839475839 nursing assistant jobs...wtf gurrrrlll" (in not those exact words but something kinda like it)
So I told her I was hoping to get into the nursing program in a year after finishing up some science classes, and I was interested in getting into the field and getting some experience. And let me just say....she was sooooo nice! She went through every nursing assistant job I applied for (and let me tell you...applying for multiple positions every day for the past month totally added up to a metric shit ton) and figured out which one would work best with my afternoon availability. She THEN set up 3 meetings for me on Friday....one with her to do some paperwork, then with the nurse manager in the Cardiology unit, the Neurology unit, and the OR!
All of the nurse managers I interview with then set down together and discuss how rock awesome I am, and decide where I would fit in best and HOPEFULLY...if all the stars align...and everyone crosses their fingers, toes, eyeballs, legs, and hold their tounges just right...I will hopefully get a call back with a job offer within a week or two! THEN, the week of Spring Break, I'll be attending orientation from 8-4:30 and after that....I'll OFFICIALLY be a nursing assistant!!! I'm really hoping for either neurology or the OR....but will take any experience that God has in store for me.
I know I'm probably waaay too excited to be getting a job wiping butts, cleaning up puke, and pushing wheel chairs....but getting in the environment, learning the lingo, and meeting people who share the same passion I do...is really what I'm excited about. (well that and getting a paycheck). I know I'm going to be on the bottom of the toteum pole, getting the shitty end of every deal (literally), but I think that's what makes climbing to the top that much sweeter when you get there! I think starting at the bottom builds character, makes you stronger, and when its all said and done...you're better than all the rest!
So bring on the grossest messes, the bloodiest clean ups, the smelliest situations, the meanest doctors, and the awful days I'm sure are ahead of me....I'm ready to be the best of the best, the top of the class, the greatest little shit shoveler you've ever seen! Bring it! I'm ready!

On a different note...and while your fingers are crossed....David and I also have our CHOICE of 2 AWESOME apartments...and will hopefully come to a decision and be in a place of our own by the first weekend in March!!! We have a lot to be thankful for...and are sooo ready to get this party started!!!!!

Slacker McSlackster

I'm officially a blogging slacker!!! But to my defense...the past week has been one of those weeks where you go nonstop and you feel like you can never get ahead...so let me catch you up....

David gets here in T-minus 48hours and counting...and I can't WAIT for the moment where he's officially HERE! And I get him alll to my self for the next 3ish years!!!!! This whole being apart thing...has really started wearing on our nerves...and having to "live" in two places at once has been tough (esp. when those two places are in separate time zones!) So we've both been busy tying up loose ends in SC and trying to keep the ball rolling here. Trying to find an apartment (so we can finally get on our own and feel normal again) has proved to be VERY difficult...as has finding a job (for me)....between all of that... lots has been done and at the same time nothing has been done...meaning I still have no job and we're still searching for a place of our own. Keep your prayers coming this way...we all need them for our sanity!

As far as school goes...I've gotten very depressed and very motivated in the matter of a week. Crazy much?!This semester has started out uber uber slow....and taking very beginner chemistry and bio classes has been VERY insulting to my intelligence to say the least. After taking organic and bio chem last semester and having to overcome such a challenge was really my cup of tea...I love a good challenge and coming out on top! Not to mention I was actually learning stuff that was relevant to nursing and health care etc. But having to go in reverse and take a general chemistry class has definitely felt like I'm going backwards instead of forwards....and after all is said and done...that's exactly the opposite of what I want to be doing! (I mean if I can make an A in a class that's harder than the one before it...shouldn't I be exempt from taking the easier class...apparently not...and that's super frustrating.) So I decided to take the lemons ... find some vodka...and make a drink....I can't look on the negative side...or I'll just get frustrated...and that's the LAST thing I need!

So while I'm trying to change my mind frame and keep things on the up and up I had a realization. All this "stuff" I'm "learning" that is uber easy (we're talking elementary style here people...for real)... is only helping me really learn all the hard stuff I learned last semester. I now know WHY Carbon is such a special atom  and HOW it is that it can bond to itself and all these other elements to make these crazy huge macromolecules that make up the human anatomy and the things we eat and process. I now know MORE about DNA replication and WHAT happens in the process of cell division that causes viruses, mutations, and genetic disorders. All this super easy stuff is really only deepening my understanding and knowledge about all the things that I'm really going to need to know later. Like what makes up the enzymes and proteins that exist in our gall bladder, small intestine, stomach, and liver ... and the processes that occur to break down the chemical components that our body needs to function on a daily basis...and even further the awful things we put in it that it has to breakdown and get out of our bodys before we kill ourselves.
So in the end...all this simple stuff is probably only simple because of the really hard stuff I have already learned...and sometimes going back and learning the simple, what, why, and how components, can be more beneficial than just taking a piece of information and knowing it inside and out just as knowledge for knowledge sake.  Now, next time I have a virus, cold, or infection....I'll know how it actually survived my immune system, divided and over took my body and caused me to be laid up and miserable...and because I'm an uber nerd...I find that slightly satisfying.

At the end of the day...I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize, remember why I'm here and forget the negative things that people have to say about it...staying focused, and positive....and knowing that when this whole thing is behind me...I'll be better than when I started....

Snow Day!!!

So I survived my first official Blizzard....and I must say...mother nature shows no mercy!  Thankfully the University FINALLY came to their senses and cancelled classes today...probably only shortly after they realized that no body was going to go anyway...not because there was over a foot of snow on the ground but because if you could get out of wherever you were...you weren't going far! I have never seen snow cover windows (in real life) ... and I have only seen cars burried in snow on tv.

For the record...let me just say....I don't care who you are....if you were born and raised in the north in all this snow...when there are white out conditions and snow drifts that could very well be over your head....you're cold, you can't drive/go anywhere, and you're dreaming of warmer places far far away...just like me! Southern girls....are not meant for all of this madness!

How to:

have your day ruined....before noon....a one stop shop guide for all of those people who want to have a sucky day!!!


I hate hate hate more than anything in this world the Office of Financial Aid....in one fail swoop they can take all of your money (that you didn't have in the first place might I add) or neglect to fill you in on important information and make you the most frustrated student on campus...in 5 minutes or less...

The biggest thing that sucks about dealing with financial aid...is that they don't tell you anything...they assume you know everything....and they make you play the every so sucky waiting game...which puts you past deadlines and makes you never see money you were quilified for....
You read every page of every website...and you still miss something.....that you never knew exised...

And that has been my day in a nut shell!

And the icing on the cake: not only am I frustrated with not getting enough money to cover my tuition...I now I have to piss my dear sweet mother off yet again to ask her for a couple thousand dollars....
Money is the root of all evil...and after all of this...I'm seriously considering moving to a commune where "money" doesn't exist ......

The eternal optimist that I am found the silver lining (in the snow cloud) and can atleast smile knowing that infact they do cancel classes here....it only takes a blizzard (and no I'm not talking about the ice cream treats you can get from Dairy Queen....an actual blizzard...like snow blowing side ways and all kinds of craziness)




***If you would like to make a donation to the ever so expanding education fund....save your money on those lottery tickets and just make all checks payable to yours truly***