Rainy Morning
Rainy Morning

Bits and Pieces on my mind

I haven't said much about community health nursing and that's probably because it bores me. I think the only thing I have learned so far is that there are three levels of prevention and intervention: primary, secondary, and tertiary. I'm sure that tidbit of information will serve me well. Pretty much everything else I either already know or guessed using intuition to get good grades on our tests so far. Lots of group projects. You all know how I feel about those.

Clinical for this rotation is silly. From what I can tell it's a total crap shoot whether you get a good experience based on the nurse preceptor they pair you with. Some people sit around for an hour in the morning waiting for the nurse, then watch them type on the computer for a few hours, then get told they're done for the day. Some do busy work that the nurse does over again. Some were assigned to clinics where they were told to have a little spanish knowledge, but then find out that that's ALL they speak there and they're not prepared for it. Others are having an okay time with pretty good nurses. This includes me, working with school nurses. But we're not getting enough hours. All the nurses at my location (I've worked with a few different ones) are great teachers and pleasant to work with, but they're only there part time. However we're responsible for getting 8 hours W/Th/F. It irks me that they hold us responsible for hours that they can't assign to us. Also, even those of us with good placements feel like we've stagnated. Just halfway through and we're bored, ready to move onto the next place. I think that's because this placement is mostly about management. There's little patient contact, mostly education (which the nurses prefer to do themselves), and a LOT of paperwork.

I figured out what I'm going to be for Halloween. It's not that hip or specific, but I already have the parts for the costume. You'll have to wait and see. Tonight I helped Miranda make the tutu for Azalea's bumblebee costume. Who would have thought that my tutu-steaming skills would be needed again? We enjoyed my coconut-cardamom rice pudding and watched America's Test Kitchen while we worked.

Tomorrow night I'm babysitting while the rest go to a haunted house. Wednesday is Movie Club, Thursday is the ward Halloween party and our mini 30 Rock party, and Friday is a big party at Brian's (of course). I'm baking treats for movie club and Halloween too. It will be a busy week! To top it all off, I signed up to work a (literal) drive-thru flu shot clinic at Kaiser on Saturday. In Northglenn. Be there at 6:30 AM. The day after Halloween. It's a crazy idea but I really need the hours (we get 8 hours for working 6!). Who knows? I may be so deliriously tired I'll enjoy standing in the freezing cold car fumes, leaning over windows and stabbing people in the arm.

Last weekend I drove home to GJ for an impromptu trip home. Andy and his girlfriend were going to visit as Amanda drove back to Denver, and they wanted our dogs to play together. I couldn't resist! It was a fun reunion not doing anything in particular but watch the dogs wrestle. Jem went ballistic with joy. I have lots of photos I'll post later. I need to edit them down a bit and upload them, and it's 10:30 so I'm calling it a night now. Sorry no fun photos this time, but I felt guilty about not writing for so long I needed to just write. (Usually I read it over and fix typos, but I'm even going to skip that this time.) Ok, one lolcat to say goodnight.

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No spirit

Here I sit 8 days before Halloween without a costume plan. I haven't even carved a pumpkin. Sigh. I don't know what it is lately. School isn't too hard, as I've told several of you this rotation is pretty light on the clinical hours and assignments. Money is tight as usual, but that's not the demotivating factor. I don't know what it is that has me in a funk lately.

The dangers of boredom

I'm stuck in my last class session for our Evidence-Based Practice class. We're spending the whole 4 hours giving group presentations. My group is done (100%, thank you). There are four more to get through before I meet with my next group for another group presentation tomorrow. Group group group.

Luckily I have my computer to distract me by studying for my exam (also tomorrow). I'll admit it, I wander onto the internet occasionally. Suddenly I've decided that I need to learn to spin yarn. Not only will it be a fun new craft, but maybe I can save money on good quality yarns for knitting! Am I silly to think that?

I found a class at Fancy Tiger that Ben says I can go to (as a gift!). Now I'm getting carried away, dreaming of keeping a couple angora rabbits to gather my own fibers and maybe work my way up to a pair of sheep.

Ok, the next group is starting (does acupuncture really help with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting?). I better close up here and pay attention again. I think I would name my first ewe Annabelle.

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Creepier in Dim Light

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Creepier in Dim Light, originally uploaded by Brian Omura.

Brian finished his hanging corpse - behold!

Follow the links to the rest of the set, where I make a cameo appearance with my super-craft-woman knot-untangling skillz.

I started my rotation as a school nurse in Littleton. Today was not so bad. Lots of following around and watching the nurse manage but not much actual nursing. It’s kind of interesting though and a nice change from being in the hospitals. I’m sure I’ll tell you more about it later. My cozy flannel pajamas and kitty-warmed bed are calling to me.

Rainy weekends are the best

This has been a GREAT weekend. Friday night we had lots of friends over for dinner. I made two apple pies this week, the first being a regular pear and apple pie with cheddar in the crust (left). The second one was a sour cream apple pie (middle) from this website. Justin's mother in Iowa sent him home with oodles of apples from her yard and he shared the bounty with me. I gave some away, made two pies, and have enough to make applesauce still! Miranda made beef stew and biscuits and the others brought side dishes. Later we played the Action Movie game with a terrible Dolph Lundgren film.


Saturday we woke up to a rain and fog. Together with Nate, Miranda, Izzy, Jem, and baby we trekked to Boulder. I got some lovely brussel sprouts and baby squash. We went to Half-Fast subs (wow their website is crappy) on the Hill for lunch (above right). I felt like I was back in school, studying for finals. But wait, I am back in school . . .



We parted with the boys, baby, and animals down in Lakewood and met Amanda at Fancy Tiger. Goodness gracious, so many pretties! We wondered in their tiny store for almost two hours, picking out the perfect fabrics and patterns. Amanda and I got fabric to make matching cats based on this free pattern. Miranda and I ventured into needle felting and it is FANTASTIC. Seriously, so much fun and so easy. I made a robin and she made an owl. We have enough roving leftover to switch kits for a second bird. I hope to make a whole forest of woodland creatures and hang them on a small tree for Christmas. By the way, felted creatures are a hit with babies and cats alike.


(After Miranda posted her owl pictures I had to get fancy with my robin too :-)

Today I started on my new calling at church - Young Women's secretary! The presidency is a great group of women who I'm very excited to work with and get to know better. In this ward we only have YW for the third hour, so I can still go to Sunday School. Best of all, this means I'm off the hook for organizing the Christmas party. Sing Hallelujah!!

Tonight we're doing more crafts, this time Brian will join us to make a hanging body covered in spider webs.

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