10th Circle of Hell

Ever been in Dallas in high summer? This has got to be the tenth circle of Hell. (for many reasons)



It is too hot for humans. When I go to my car and the thermometer reads 111F sitting in the driveway that tells me that this is a bad, bad place to live. The worst of it is this will last for 6 months. Ok, exaggeration, but triple digit temperatures can last for 3 months. It could be like this until October.



It used to snow in October where I grew up.



Which leads me to the big question?? Why on earth do we live here?? The easy answer to that is that the big boy is in school here and his Dad lives here. The good new is that he is starting grade 8, which means 5 more years and he is done.



This makes me think that it is time to start a five year plan to get the hell out of Dodge. We have no particular ties here, besides a few family that we rarely see and our house. I am a nurse, Hubby is a teacher/writer, we have portable jobs. Little boy will be young enough that it won't matter if we move. I should be done with university in 5 years. Nuff said...



I want to live somewhere where I can actually do things outside and enjoy being outdoors. I like 4 seasons. I hate air conditioning. I like snow and snow activities. I also miss my family and friends. My parents are not young any more. I have 3 nieces that I do not really know. I am lucky if I see them once a year. I want to have a basement, again. Hubby has friends up north that he would love to see regularly. There are a lot of reasons to go north.



Waa, waa, waa, I hear the world's smallest violin playing a song, just for me....



Hubby and I really need to think seriously about this. He wants to go, too. We just have to decide if we really want to make it happen or stay in the 10th circle.

3 in 30, whatever... So, I'm an underachiever...

So about 3 in 30. That's not going so well. In fact it is not going at all. I have not been able to do one single thing on the list of 3 measly things. Pah, I can't even remember what they, something about writing a letter and cleaning my closet.

Well, I am going to try again, but this time it's going to be 6 in 180. Aim low and hope for the best.

1. Hand write letters to my friend in Ottawa. I can't say how often, but I know that she needs this as a pick me up. She is not well and I know that a real letter in the mail is something that will make her smile. I think she will appreciate the sentiment.

2. Complete 6 more credit hours of school. (This is a done deal, just registered for fall semester!) I wasn't going to count this, but school is a major time eater, so yes, will count.

3. Feng Shui the house. At least bedroom and living room. This is already in progress, but needs to continue to completion.

4. Keep on with the reading. I have so many books I want to read and so little time. I really really miss reading for pleasure.

5. Lose that 20 pounds. If I can do that in 6 months it would be awesome!!!

6. Unclutter by one thing everyday. Just one little thing, everyday.


We shall see. I know that the fall semester should feel like a breeze, since I will only be taking one class. Maybe I can get some stuff done.

Gaining Momentum...

So, school is moving right along. I am taking 2 summer sessions courses, which is challenging because it is a lot of work crammed into a very short time, but it is a good way to rack up credit hours.

I just finished my fine arts elective and will start my first of 2 core curriculum government classes on Monday. I will only have a few more electives, hopefully completed in the next 2 semesters and then I can actually start taking my nursing classes.

I think I do know what I want to be when I grow up, now. The more I think and think and think about it, the more I want to pursue a Nurse Practitioner certification, probably in Family Medicine. (this is really a misnomer, it is not a certification, but a graduate degree) I keep thinking that as an NP, I could work when and where I wanted, I could actually help practice preventative medicine and be proactive instead of reactive. I could actually do something for the greater good. I have not done that kind of nursing for a while. Don't get me wrong, my current job is a sweet gig, but I miss patients.

sooooooo.... For the first time since I started back to university I feel like I am actually getting somewhere. I know I can do it, I just don't it to take so long that I need a walker to get across the stage and collect my diploma!

Baby Weight vs Lazy Weight

I don't like to be vocal about my weight because it pisses people off that are bigger than I am, cause I'm not that big. I get those "really!! you are bitching about your weight!!" looks. Well, I am not happy with where I am right now. I look in the mirror and I don't like what I see. Worse yet, I see a photo of myself and OMG!!

I can tell myself it's baby weight. ha! whatever That said baby is 3 1/2 years old. What I have now has crossed the line to lazy weight. I just don't wanna make the effort to cook healthy and don't wanna make the effort to really exercise.

I go to the gym at least once or twice a week, but I don't really work out. Doing 20 min on the elliptical and then walking on the treadmill for 45 min is a joke. It is not a work out if I don't even break a sweat. I need to make my body complain when I work out! I am being lazy.

I have never been into fad diets. I am a firm believer in Weight Watchers. I've used it before and it works. Weight Watchers does take some planning, forethought and effort until you get it hardwired, but it's worth it.

So, time to lose 20 pounds. That would be good.

Books #4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

I've been a blogging lump lately. Will have to get back on the bandwagon.

At any rate, I have been reading. I am chalking up 3 books from my Spring semester classes I took and then 3 more fluffy books I read in the short break between Spring session and Summer session. (will not disclose the names or author of these books out of sheer embarrassment for reading such mindless crap, but I never said I read brain food all the time, now did I)

So, I am up to a total of 9, so far. I think that's not too shabby.

More posts coming soon....

Happy Nurses Day!!

In honor of my profession and our National day (well, la dee da!!) I am re-posting some pictures and commentary from a Medscape e-mail I got this morning.

http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/nurse-caps?src=ptalk

Nurses fastening and admiring their caps, 1950.


"From the day a girl contemplates entering training, she looks forward to the day when she has successfully passed the long, hard trials and tribulations of a probationer and has earned the privilege of having the symbol of dignity placed upon her head. That moment is the acme of her training school career."[6] (Courtesy of University of Virginia School of Nursing Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry)


Dorothy Woodhouse Dalenberg, Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing, 1968.


Dorothy remembers that "at our freshman capping ceremony, we received the cap with one thin blue felt stripe. Each year another thin blue stripe was added. We received a single, thicker black stripe when we graduated. My daughter, Kimberly, is also an RN and now has possession of my cap." (Courtesy of Dorothy Woodhouse Dalenberg)

Mary Koslap-Petraco, Bellevue School of Nursing, New York City, 1969.


Mary, who was in the last diploma class to graduate from Bellevue, shares the history of the "Bellevue Fluff."
"Bellevue was the first nursing program in the United States to follow the Nightingale model. In 1872, Florence Nightingale sent a letter outlining her paradigm for nursing education. The school opened on May 1, 1873. For the first several years there was no standardized uniform or cap. Euphemia Van Rensselaer took it upon herself to design a blue and white striped uniform and cap. As the years passed the cap became smaller but was the same design as the original. The organdy Bellevue "cupcake" came to symbolize the highest standards for the registered professional nurse and has been proudly worn by thousands of graduates." (Courtesy of Mary Koslap-Petraco)

I am very nostalgic about the nursing cap and white uniform. My nursing class- Class of 1990, was the last class at my school to graduate with a white cap and white dress. I still have my cap and school pin and white dress.

I don't work out on the floor any more and don't wear a uniform. Although uniforms are not what they were. We all were scrubs now. Yes, very comfortable and practical, but I do think that they take away the professional competent image of the nurse in her white dress and starched cap.

I never wore my cap after graduation, I did wear dresses and white hose and white "duty shoes". Now that has all gone away.

Alas, perhaps I was born into the wrong generation.

Book #3 - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Ya, so this was a weird book. Very well written and funny as all get out. But... Not for the squeamish. It grossed me out in several parts and I just don't really ever get grossed out. Come on - RN for 20+ years - not too much out there makes me cringe. (well, actually some stuff does, but I don't think that I am going to make a list of it, except to mention that bile is on the list...so you catch my drift) Anyway... If you ever wondered what happens when people donate their bodies to science, this book is for you. Oh ya, and also lots of informative information regarding historical and modern enbalming and funeral practices.