I'm still alive!

Don't worry, I'm still here!

These past few weeks have been absolutely InSaNe! I feel like it's only been a week and two weeks have blown by! I'm hitting the "brick wall" as marathon runner's call it on mile 24 out of 26.2. It's a phenomenon that truly challenges the dedication of staying in the race. I'm almost there...TWO WEEKS UNTIL GRADUATION! Of course that doesn't come easily...I still have two exams and some 50 hours of clinical (out of 270) to finish! I finished my final "thesis" over the Thanksgiving break (A BIG thanks for that!) and that was a HUGE load off my shoulders! AND not to mention my better half (not Has), but WORK has also been stressful...I had the WORST day of my life last Sunday. Never had I been so busy...on my feet for 17 hours (didn't get home until 10pm), turned my patient's room into a mini-OR, and only at a Oreo ice cream bar for lunch at 4pm.

Anyways, gotta keep chipping away at readings from LAST week....

Glad Rags?!?!?!

This weekend I'm trying to play catch-up with my assigned readings from last week AND this week. With about 30 chapters to read, it can get pretty mundane, boring, and just plain insane. After a few hours of reading, my mind drifts...where's Murry...what's for lunch...vacuum the stairs...what to blog about... Soon, I find myself just reading words and not really understanding the content. Know what I mean?

And then there are interesting chapters and in the medical and nursing arenas, there are plenty of them. There are diseases that are tragic and amusing. Symptoms that are unusual and disgusting. I have a story for each part of the body. If I could only tell you what my eyes have seen!!!! If I did, I'd get sued.

So, I'm reading Chapter 185 (out of268) and we're learning GYN disorders. Don't worry, I didn't scan any pictures. I'm reading about vulvar and vaginal disorders specifically...if you need me to explain this part of the body...just 'Google' it.

Just when I thought the material was getting boring, I read Box 185-1 entitled 'Patient Education and Resources'. This is a handy piece of information within each chapter because it tells what we as practitioners should be teaching our patients about their condition, disease, and management. It's kinda like Martha Stewart's "Good Things", but only about your body.

Read this "Good Thing" about vulvodynia...there were a few items that I found amusing. I'd rather be dead than tell my patients some of these helpful hints. They'd think I was crazy! And if you happen to go to the medical office and find your practitioner telling you these things, you know that they weren't making it up or they aren't just plain perverted.

All I can say is...spray bottles? Skirts? All-cotton panels? Vegtable oil? Glad Rags? Old underwear? Support groups? (Click TWICE on the picture to enlarge it)

Anyways, I will LOVE being a nurse practitioner because not only do I get to see patients, diagnose their complaints, and write prescriptions, but I get to educate them. It's the core of nursing...patient education...health promotion and disease prevention.

Thank you all for your support...

Important update:

My precious Pentel pencil has been recovered in pristine condition! Complete with lead and eraser! Has found it behind our couch in the basement. Murry may have been involved in it's disappearance. (He is currently being held in custody for questioning. Anyone wishing to make his bail of $100 may do so by replying to this blog.)

I squealed with delight when Has showed me my pencil. I NEVER thought I would see this pencil again! Our reunion couldn't have come during a better time!!!

I was using one of my new mechanical pencils for my exam on Tuesday. All of a sudden it malfunctioned as I was trying to bubble in one of my answers. The damn pencil lead snapped in half and darted across the room!! Then, I attempted to "click" in my next fresh pencil lead, but instead the WHOLE lead slid right out of my pencil and rolled off the desk. Not once, but THREE freaking times. In utter disbelief and slightly panicked (because I had only had 5 minutes left), I frantically "clicked" my pencil to get the next lead to come out. Nothing! Nada! Nunca! My classmates must have thought I had some strange twitch or obsession with "clicking" my mechancial pencil. "My old pencil would NEVER have done this to me!!!!" I thought to myself. Oh, how I missed it even more!

But now I am complete! Out with those fake mechanical pencils...my blue pencil is returning back to it's home in my planner...and back into my heart (sniff, sniff)!!! Now I can sleep...

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak, everyone!

Hope everyone enjoys their day with family and friends. Here's a receipe you can try if you are entertaining guests or if you need to bring a dessert to someone's house. The only catch, you'll need a crock pot (aka slow cooker) and some patience. It SO good and definitely worth the wait. And if you're like me, then you'll get to use your crock pot more than once! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake

Ingredients
*1 box plain devil's food cake mix
*1 box of chocolate instant pudding mix
*2 cups sour cream
*4 large eggs
*3/4 cup vegetable oil
*1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
*2 tsp vanilla extract or flavoring
*Vegetable oil cooking spray (for the pan)

Directions
1) Place the cake mix, pudding, mix, sour cream, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl
2) Add 1 cup of water
3) Blend with electric mixer on low speed until blended
4) Scrape sides of bowl down and blend again on high speed for 2 minutes
5) Fold in chocolate chips
6) Mist the bottom and sides of a 4.5-6 qt slow cooker with vegetable spray
7) Transfer batter into the cooker and cover
8) Cook until the cake is puffed in the center and begins to pull away from the side of the cooker
(this will take about 3.5 hours on high heat OR 6.5-7 hours on low heat)
9) Serve and enjoy!