Ode to the weekend

Well I am officially done with finals, and they turned out WAY better than I thought. Our last final was this morning and I won't lie... I didn't study very hard for this one... I actually didn't even finish reading all the way through the notes because I just got tired. So (and this is so aweful of me, but you have to understand that I have no brain left at this point), during the test I didn't even read every question... yes, I guessed on about 40%, attempted to read the rest and tried to answer at least 50% correct... no that doesn't equal 100%, but I don't care at this point. Anyway, on this test I actually scored pretty horrible, but it was exactly what I needed to get a B in the class (an A was out of the question), so I will proudly take that B and be done with that class.

In other words... I'm done! Well for at least a few weeks. And Monday I start at 9 at the pediatrics clinic in town on my first clinical rotation for 3 weeks. I am excited, yet nervous because we haven't had a peds class yet, so there isn't alot of things we can be responsible for. I just want to have fun and learn without having to sit and stare at a professor for 9 hours a day. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow, I am waking up early to drive to Graham, pick up Robert, and then drive to Dallas for Ashley's wedding. I will also be saying goodbye to my best friend, Tracy, as she ventured to Chicago- I'm gonna miss her! Yeah she lives in Houston and its not like I got to see her all the time, but she was still close enough to plan an occasional visiting trip. This is not good bye forever, but its just weird to watch her drive away to Chicago that is a million light years away from west Texas. Sad day, but a fun adventure for her. And the wedding will be great and I'm ready for some time with Robert.
I'm sure I will have many stories and pictures to share when I get back... so till then God bless and thanks for reading by the way.

So Over It

I realize that I don't have much time to write this week, due to the approaching doom of my finals (3 left!), but I've decided that I'm just over it. My friends at school have adopted this phrase and while it may be our most overused phrase at the moment... it is so true. We are in every way possible... over this semester. I get like this around finals weeks. I can remember when I was at A&M and knowing that finals were approaching, which meant that I would be calculating my grade in order to see how much effort (or lack thereof) I had to put into every class. Yes, I still do that unfortunately. But its gotten more severe over the years and has finally climaxed at this point in life where I just don't care about learning anymore and I just want to pass. You may think this is a bad attitude, but really... when they try to cram 8 hours of info into my head, 5x/wk, and then insist that I read enough material that when lined up could reach to saturn and back, plus having a life on top of this... you got to be kidding me that I will actually have any bit of attention of will power left to take finals. Thats funny. So the moral of my life this week is... I'm over it.

And to top of everything... I'm over my lets-try-and-do-the-diet-thing-but-really-just-pretend-to-do-it phase. Yes, thats right... I officially joined Weight Watchers. As in I payed the money for the online program which is quite entertaining by the way. I can see myself wasting lots of time on that thing. Some of you may be wondering why I did this, but you are the people who do not see me on a regular basis. I admit that PT school, stress, and just being lazy have added up to a significant increase in my weight since my wedding one year ago. I only wish to get back there where I was. This is doable, but will be even more so doable now that I'm forcing myself to make good decisions about food because I'm paying to make those good decisions. This is all I will say about this because no one likes a whiner about their weight. BUT I am glad to know that I can still get my caramel coffee drinks for only 3 or 4 points- yay!

Thursday I will be a very happy person, and Friday I will drive to see my darling husband and then we will venture to the exciting city of McKinney for Ashley's wedding. Good times are a coming!

And a special shout-out to my friend Tracy- Congrats on Chicago! So excited for you and I'll be up to visit soon!

Seriously... 10 cents?

So on Sunday afternoons- after Robert packs and leaves (sad face)- I usually begin a round of vigorous studying. Well this Sunday I figured that I would head to my other favorite coffee shop called Tuscany's. Finals are coming up... as in they start Friday with the scariest hour long practical of my life, and continue into next week... and then I will be officially done with one year of PT school! Whoop! I'm glad that sometimes it doesn't matter how I got to the end, but that it happened because this sure has been a messy road, but who cares- one week left! Then I get to play for 3 weeks with kids on my first pediatric clinical rotation here in Abilene. I'm super excited about that!
But I digress... So I went to Tuscany's but of course to ruin the day, they were closed. So I went to starbucks instead to pick up a caramel frappuccino with a gift card I kept forgetting was in my wallet. So I drive up to the window to receive my drink of heavenly goodness, and hand him my gift card. "Do you want to refill it if it runs out?" the teller asks me. I tell him no and he swipes the card... then he laughs. "Well the card only had 10 cents on it." Oh. "Seriously, just 10 cents?" "Yeah."
You may not find this funny, but at the time I was very distraught and then later just laughed. I had a lot of gift cards from Christmas and this was my last one to be used... and lo and behold its got a wopping 10 cents on it. So I paid the rest of the bill and took my drink back home to study. Next time I will pay more attention to the balance remaining on the receipts. Even though... I hate receipts. Could there be a more useless waste of paper. Sure for big purchases we have to hang on to them like its our certificate to life or something, but for the small things how important can it be to hand everyone a little skinny slip of paper, that fades and rubs off on everything, and that gets lost for months before you find it again. Is that practical, I think not. For the obsessive compulsive financial people I'm sure it is important, but for me... I don't care. Don't waste another slip of tree on me, I know how much I just paid... and it shows up on my online bill anyway. Ok sorry, that just came to me.
Off to school, just a few more days!

14 Hours and a very odd week

This past week has just been weird. No, odd is more appropriate I think. Some things have popped up that have just been annoying, and some have popped up that have been a little frightening. Currently on my mind, I just spent all day at school and I'm exhausted. I mean I spent 14 hours straight in the same building... working on random assignments, being in class, and having meetings... this does not make for a happy day or for a happy me. I have officially entered the "drinking from a waterfall" stage of PT school... well actually, I think I'm sinking underneath the water with only a snorkel to help me. Yes, exhausted. Its not all bad stuff, its just busy. I don't think people really believe me when I say that I am busy with school. When I say that I get some response that indicates that people think I'm just making excuses when really I barely have time to talk to Robert during the day... and that is one of the most important parts of my day! So, please don't think I'm making some usual excuse of being too busy... I really am... I mean who spends all day locked in a building that has no windows just for fun? Nobody.

I think my mean side is coming out too. I know some of you are saying, well hasn't it always been out, but its getting out of control. I attribute this to the lack of quality time with my husband, my self, and non-stressfullness [yeah I made that word up]. So, I apologize for my increased attitude and for my inability to stop myself from saying certain things out loud... I promise its all from the stress [and believe me that is no made up excuse].

Lastly, without going into many details I wanted to share about my experience last Thursday. I was having a great day at school, I had a test that afternoon that I wasn't looking forward to, but nevertheless, I was surviving the day. Well, after lunch that all went downhill. I stood up from my chair to get ready to get back to studying and I felt the most excruciating pain ever in my life in my lower abdomen. I could just not get comfortable. After about 45 minutes of this, my awesome professors convinced me to go to a local doctor to get checked out. My marvelous friends [shout out to Brittany and Courtney] drove me to the doctor amongst my peril. Of course, when we got there the pain was suddenly gone which only infuriated me more. But I continued with the check up. When they finally called me into the back, I had to get the routine height, weight, and blood pressure check. These people had a machine that dates back to the ice ages for taking blood pressure. My normal is 110/73 mmHg. This is good. And normally the pressure cuff is filled up about 20-30 mmHg higher than when your radial pulse disappears... long explanation short... my cuff inflated to 210 mmHg! THAT WAS TOO HIGH! My arm started turning blue and now I had this shooting pain running up and down my hand and arm. Great. So I started to pump my hand to decrease the pain and salvage any tissue that I had left in there, but since I moved we had to... yep thats right... do the test again. You got to be kidding me. So the machine inflates my arm well above normal and proceeds to deflate at about the speed of dying turtles. Not only is my arm blue and in pain, it is now becoming numb and disconnected from my body. Needless to say the rating was still good, but my heart rate was a wopping 125 beats/min which is way to high for someone who had been sitting down for 15 minutes. Not cool.

The rest of the doctor experience was as usual- they took my samples and had me on my way. I'm fine, but I did have to have a follow up test done the other day to rule out some things [and I'm glad to say that I am NOT pregnant, so don't get any ideas]. We will see what they say, but I expect that it was just some fluke thing that happened amongst my stressed out life.
What a fantastic week. I can't wait till Friday!

Oh, but I did have a great weekend, I don't want to forget to throw that in there. We went to Midland for the 4th and spent the entire time with our nieces and nephew and family... it was great! I will post pictures soon!

Creepy Caramel

I have officially reached the point in my life where I have a "usual." Meaning... today I walked into my new early morning study/cram session coffee house, Java City located across the street from HSU, the place that makes the BEST caramel macchiato (even better than Starbucks *gasp*)! I usually plan to arrive there around 7 am on mornings we have tests or quizzes, just to give myself a little last minute motivation to jam the info into my head. Well, it had been a few days since my last visit (I attribute it to being sick and poor), but when I walked in the coffee guy who is always there looked at me and said... "would you like your usual, tall caramel macchiato right? and a blueberry bagel with cream cheese?" Yes, I was stunned that he would remember my order, but I guess I do order the same thing every time, so its to be expected. The only thing he couldn't remember was if I like strawberry or plain cream cheese (plain of course), but I'm sure he will remember when I arrive on Friday morning. It is kind of exciting to know that I have a usual order now, but then again I guess that could be a bad thing.

I am becoming quite addicted to those amazing caramel coffee drinks... or should I say that I am becoming more addicted to just coffee in general (mark down list of addictions as another interesting post idea). I mean I have my favorite cold and hot coffee drink and they both start with caramel... and to top it off when Robert and I were in Ruidoso, we stopped at the Starbucks a few times and amazingly found caramel sauce. It even has the recipe for a caramel macchiato on the back and I am stoked! Now I need to know how to make a frappacino and I have both my cold and hot drinks covered! Oh, but here is the interesting part... I hate caramel candy... well hate is a strong word... I don't prefer caramel candy. I just want the real stuff... that is SO bad for you... oh well we all have to live a little.

So the title of this is "creepy caramel" and I have to explain the creepy part... So there have been two incidents so far at this coffee shop where I have met the most random, creepy, people.
One. A few weeks ago, I was of course studying for a test but this time it was more like around 10 am, when I get up to order my coffee and out of my peripheral vision I see this man in a red shirt watching me order. So I walk back to my chair which is of course across from red shirt man and he just smiles, I ignore and sit down... well not 5 seconds later my coffee is up at the bar (they are fast like lightning at this place) so I go get it and when I turn around red shirt man is standing up. uh oh. I walk to my chair and he says "Hi, how are you?" I was in a good mood right then (besides being creeped out), so I said "Great, how are you?" And I go to sit down, but he replies loudly with, "That is GREAT! I can tell that you mean that, that you are having a great day and I love to see that in people... Oh my gosh that is a pretty ring! [picks up my left hand and is staring at my ring, which now I have closed in a fist like fashion b/c I thought he was going to take it off] It looks brand new, is it?" I so confusedly reply, "sorta." He says," Well he did a great job didn't he with that one! Wow I have just never seen such a gorgeous ring before!." He drops my hand, I back away just as he says, "Well you continue to have a great day!" And leaves.
WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!!
Two. Today, as I was enjoying my coffee, this boy in a white shirt starts to walk past my booth, does a double take, and slows down. He is staring at me. Like wide eyed staring. I know I'm not that pretty in the morning, but come on! So he turns around and keeps staring but walks past me. By this time my two friends have joined me at my booth, so I'm feeling safe. Well white shirt boy comes back and of course sits at the table across from my booth... and what is he doing, staring. I sat there for 30 minutes I think with him just staring [except at one point I think he fell asleep, but I wasn't really trying to focus on him].
Once again, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!

Creepy people interfere with my lovely caramel drinks. But I still love that coffee shop.

I do love to talk

If you want to get totally distracted from your day go to www.tickle.com and search for the "breed of dog" quiz. This website has thousands of quizzes you can take that mean absolutely nothing, but fun. We actually had to take the "breed of dog" test for an assignment in class (statistics, I don't know why PTs need statistics for our practice, but we are taking it). My breed of dog... yorkshire terrier... a Yorkie! Those dogs are so cute. You are wondering now why it chose this for me, well here is the explanation they list:

No bones about it, you're a social, bustling Yorkshire Terrier. Active and enthusiastic, Yorkies like you have a ton of energy — which means you're probably always running around like a mad dog. You're never without a project to work on, an errand to run, or a party to catch. (Where do you find the time?) You're a chatty little pup, too — talking is one of your favorite pastimes. That's why all your friends and acquaintances see you as their own personal Entertainment Tonight and rely on you for the latest gossip and social bulletins. You always liven up a dinner party or cocktail gathering, and people simply adore your affectionate nature and get-up-and-go eagerness. Woof!

I especially like the part about how talking is one of your favorite pastimes... I do love to talk. Its funny how you never really notice how much you like to do something until you can't... This week in the recovery process from my annoying sickness it happened... I lost my voice. Oh I could squeeze out enough to sound like a man, but my laugh, my yell, my normal voice all gone. And its not like I took it easy and stayed at home trying to let it rest up... noooo I had to do school stuff, go to a pool party, take blood pressures for people in the town, go shopping with Robert, and play Bingo, all without a voice. I really do love to talk.


So while I try to continue on with my normal functions, I will continue to try and nurse my voice back... what will they do in school without me chatting away? This is my kind of torture.


*Disclaimer... if anyone so much as even attempts to refer to me as the "Yorkie" ...I will have to destroy you and break your neck... ok. good.

I do love the vapors...

I hate being sick. I had the wonderful pleasure (yes sarcasm) of being sick and missing half a day of school on Tuesday. I remember how this was actually a joyous occasion in grade school because missing class wasn't that big of a deal. BUT now in Grad school missing class is like having your whole hand slammed into a door. Ouch... its going to take a few days to fix. Yes, only half a day missed due to a sore throat, headache, sinus infection, and generalized weakness... and you would have thought I missed a whole week. I'm pretty sure I only missed one assignment, but of course it had to be one of the worst to make up... great. I hate being sick.

And to top it all off, I don't understand why I have to explain my every symptom to people. Its like they need written proof of my every cough, sneeze, and gag as to why I wasn't present at whatever location and whatever time. I understand sympathy, but do you really care WHAT I had. Next time I will get more detailed if I have to... you know the whole gross stuff thing with the sweats and tissues bla bla bla... ridiculous. I was sick, what more do you want. You have to be crazy to think that I wanted to get sick and miss school so I could be behind and have to make up ridiculous assignments. Why don't I just chop off my foot if thats the case! I sound a little frustrated right now, but I am only trying to make a point that if I say I'm sick, don't ask me what was wrong... I don't want to relive it, I want to get over it. I hate being sick.
Plus, I could barely drive to school to take a test we had that afternoon, so if it looked like I was faking it then thats just because I'm really good at putting on a happy face and dealing with stuff.
The ONLY thing good about being sick is Vick's Vapor Rub. I love that stuff. I would go on to say that I am addicted to it even. I just love the feeling it creates in my throat as I breath it in. I don't exactly use it the right way... rubbing it all over the chest... eww messy... but I do put it on my neck and a little dab right under the nose (I know I'm not alone in this). Then I cuddle under that covers and hide my face underneath the sheets in order to trap in the vapor sent for as long as possible... mmm I love it. If I feel like a sore throat is coming on, I pop open the bottle and smear some goodness on... I'm sure Robert has become used to this smell by now b/c I really do like it. Call me odd, but I love the vapors.

Well, I'm actually writing this late at night because I couldn't sleep due to my annoying paranoia about someone being in my apartment at night... I hear every little noise and it creeps me out... so now that I'm done writing this I hope I can go to sleep... and yes I have a little bit of vapor rub under my nose... its a calming agent, what can I say? Goodnight.