Thursday Goodness....

More from the school library.....welcome to "The Stacks" lots of cool old books up here. The floors are thick glass.

The Stacks are between floors, notice the doorway right by the floor. Maybe it's just me, but this seems borderline dangerous, don't you think?
*sigh* I'm madly madly in love with these windows. I'm so sad that they're painted over. You still get the idea of how pretty they are though.

Today on the bus I ran into my BFF Jeromee. I haven't seen him in AGES! I love that boy so much. He works in the library and someone left their Dolce & Gabana sunglasses in there and if they aren't claimed soon, Jeromee gets them. So, if you lost a pair of super expensive glasses, you better hurry before they go to a new home.

My friend Kim has been sick lately, so hop on over to her blog http://bugsy97.blogspot.com/ and send her some love, okay?

XOXO!

Should I ask?

I was driving in Norman today and I saw this sign. I did a double take and died laughing. So, of course, I grabbed my camera and had to turn around because surely nobody would believe me if I told them about this sign.

Hope it made you smile!

XOXO!

...or so they say...

Morning! Bah, I'm tired and cranky. Work was long last night, but luckily, not too bad. I'm hoping for a day similar to it today.

*sigh* Feeling a bit overwhelmed with school right now. I've got reading to do today, so maybe work won't be too bad after all and I can squeeze in a little bit of reading time...yea, right.

Take It On The Run...

Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another you've been messing around....

Don't you just love REO Speedwagon? I'm an old soul when it comes to music. 70's, 80's, oh yea baby, that's right up my alley!

I'm SO glad it's Friday. I'd like to be able to tell you that I get to relax all weekend, but that's not the case. Tomorrow I work from 12p-12a in the ER and I turn around and do it again on Sunday. *sigh* But, on a positive note, I got offered a part time shift in the ER instead of just being PRN. So, my weekends will be *somewhat* free now. I'm hoping to move to Norman at some point this year, and with the guaranteed hours each week it might be a possibility sooner than I thought.

I have a date tonight, I'm just waiting for him to call me once he gets off work. I'm the most impatient person ever. I keep looking at the clock, watching the minutes drag by. *sigh* Any suggestions on how I can be a more patient person? I'll take any advice I can get!

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to my world...

This is it! My home away from home, the OU library. This is inside in the Great Reading Room. It's breathtaking when you first walk in. The ceiling is vaulted and reminds me of an old church. The windows on the far end (and behind me) and simply amazing. The lanterns add an old charm. You can't see it very clearly, but there are people carved into the posts in the ceiling. So beautiful.

My first class of the day is in the architecture building. This is one of the ominous halls one the 2nd floor. This building is always freezing cold. Now the best way to start your day at 8:30, huh?

A little more humor from the architecture building. I don't know why I found this funny, but as I was walking down the hall I spotted this and it made me smile.

Mother knows best....

Yup, my mom was right. It's the flu. Eeewww! Gross. Someone grab the Lysol and disinfect anything I've touched lately!

I spent yesterday napping and resting after my doctor's appointment. I still feel pretty bad today but I'm hoping tomorrow will be better. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

On another note, something really cool is in the works and I got invited to be a part of it yesterday. I need to wait a few more days before I make the big announcement, but let me just say how cool it is and how flattered I am to be a part of such a cool thing!

...Gonna go curl up back in bed now.

Toodles!

Wachoo Lookin At?

Happy Monday! Did you have a nice weekend? I'm attempting to follow through on my promise to blog more, but with school and work, that's sometimes a feat. *lol*. Let's see here...

My MWF classes are pretty good, here's the break down for ya....

8:30-9:20 France and The Americas - This class is basically the history of Canada and northern Maine and the role France played in colonization. I've had this same professor before. He's young and a total hoot. Very absent minded and very easy to distract and get off topic, however, he's so full of information. I just want to absorb him forever!

9:30-10:20 - Free hour! You can find me in the library, or reading a book in some hidden nook on camus.

10:30-11:20 Spanish - La clase de espanol es no mi favorita. (I hope I said that right) I have made a few amigos in this class though and mi profesor es muy bien.

11:30-12:20 Early Moden Witchhunt - This class is really interesting and it fulfills one of my history credits. I've only been twice, but so far we've talked about why women were primarily the ones being accused of witch craft and the areas of witch craft activity. The books for this class are obscure, "Servants of Satan" and "The Witch's Spellbook". I feel really awkward carrying them around campus. As a matter of fact, I try to make a point to wear a necklace or a piece of jewelry to that class with a cross on it (...just in case...)!

12:30-1:20 Free Hour again! Who wants to go to the Union for lunch?

1:30-2:20 African American History Since 1865 - This class is probably going to be my favorite. My professor is really fantastic. Also, there are only 8 white kids in this class. Everyone else is African American. I've never been a minority in a class before, but I'm actually really looking forward to learning about Afr. Amer history and hearing about it from a non-white point of view. Should be interesting.

That wraps up my classes for the most part. I'm supposed to be practicing my Spanish for 15 minutes a night, and I haven't practiced all weekend, so I have about an hours worth of catching up to do tonight. Yikes!

I worked Friday night in the ER, but it was a really easy shift, 2:00p-10:00p. I started feeling sick towards the end of my shift though, so that was no good. I did something different, I was a tech that night. Which basically means that I was calling patients back and getting them set up in their rooms. Then once they were gone I was going in and cleaning the rooms, changing the bedding, etc. I'm sure I caught something from one of them. *Eew!*

Which leads me to Saturday.....The Paper Crown. I worked from 10-about 12:45 when Cindy came in. I felt terrible, so she traded places with me while I went home and went to bed. Being sick is terrible and since I've been working in the ER, I've gotten sick more times than I can count.

My mom had a Silpada jewelry party on Sunday. We had about 10-12 ladies here all trying on jewelry. What a fun time. I usually wear studs or short dangly earrings, but since I wear my hair down most of the time, you can't see my earrings. Our jewelry consultant, Martha, got me hooked on long dangly earrings so you can see them when my hair is down. Pretty cool if you ask me.

I've got a doctor's appointment today. My mom is convinced that I've got the flu, I think I've just got a cold or a 48 hour bug. I'm feeling a little bit better today.

Okay, now that I've updated you on my life, I need to go get ready for the doctor's appointment.

Toodles!

Back to school...

I have a confession. I'm a nerd. Maybe it's the future teacher inside of me, but the day before school starts I can never sleep. I tossed and turned all night. It's the anticipation of new classes, new professors, new friends. I get SO excited. And the best part, I get to experience it twice! First for my Tuesday/Thursday classes and then again tomorrow for my Monday/Wednesday/Friday classses. (OU didn't have classes yesterday, it was used as a make up day for finals because of the ice storm during finals week)

Remember when you're in school and your mom would line you and your sibling up outside and take a first day of school picture? Well, my mom is at work today, so here's a quick self portrait.

Yup, I'm sporting the glasses today. I feel smarter when I wear them. And that necklace? I found it at the Clover Leaf. The best part, it was less than $25! It's heavy and SO SO pretty. I get compliments every time I wear it.

Let's see here, what else is new? Oh! I won the cutest nutcups at Jenny's blog! Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen? http://journals.aol.com/jennyeveryday/everyday-is-a-holiday

I've got a coffee date tonight with a guy named Jason. He's very nice and I'm so excited about meeting him. I'll give you the full update afterwards.

I'm teaching a class at The Paper Crown on the 22nd and the 29th. I'll try to take a picture of the shadow box today and post a picture of it on here. Space is limited for the shadow box class, since I've only got 6 shadow boxes. If you're interested call the store at (405) 848-2389.

That's all folks!

I'm trying to be a better blogger! School is back in and I'm getting back into the old routine, so expect more blog entries since I'll have a teeny tiny bit more free time since I'm not working as much.

Love!

01.12.2008

Some days I love my job. Other days, not so much.

The Emergency Room is some place where nobody really wants to be.

I've worked in the ER for about 6 months. I've seen some crazy stuff. Sick, sick people, drug seekers looking for a "fix", suicidal patients, funny little accidents (kids putting things up their noses, accidentally putting nail glue in your eye thinking it was eyedrops, etc) I can usually leave work with a funny story and extremely tired after my 12 hour shift (7pm-7am). I'm very fortunate that I am not directly involved in patient care. I'm a secretary. I sit beside the doctors and I order the tests they request for their patients. CT Scans, XRays, labs, EKG's. I arrange for patients to be admitted. I call other facilities and arrange patient transfers. I call the on-call doctors at 2am and get yelled at for waking them up (um, hello! You're on-call). But, I love my job.

Last night was beyond anything I have experienced. My shift started at 7 and I got to work around 6:30. Ambulance #1 comes rolling in around 7:20, Ambulance #2 comes in around 7:40. The only information we were given was the patient is a 17 year old female, auto vs. pedestrian. Oh no. This can not be good. 7:47 the patient arrives, is taken in to the trauma room right across from my desk. Massive, major trauma. She coded at the scene but our fantastic paramedics were able to get her back. CT scan showed massive internal bleeding. The police said she flew 126 feet from where she was hit. The oders start flying. Call the chaplain. Do we have a phone number of family? Do we want to notify family or can the police do it? The ER is a very busy and usually a very loud place. However, in the hour that this patient was with us, you could have heard a pin drop. Every nurse, tech and physician was in that room, trying to save.this.girl. More orders. Transfer forms. Call the paramedics for transport. Receiving facility. Hurry. Hurry. Rush. Rush. STAT. Moments later, she's gone, out the door to a hospital in the city where they handle massive traumas. The paramedics called 3 times on the way to the hospital in the city with updates. Finally we got news that she died.

More ambulances. GI bleeds, hip fractures, anxiety attacks, chest pain, shortness of breath, ETOH.

2:00 rolls around. Another ambulance. Rumor has it that the patient was asystole. 2:20, patient arrives with an entourage of paramedics, fire fighters, performing CPR, chest compressions, the whole nine yards. 25 year old male. I saw his blue lifeless face when they whisked him past me on the way to the trauma room. More orders. Call the chaplain. Get the Code Blue kit. 40 minutes of non stop working on him, and nothing, they call it and doctors and nurses slowly emerge from the room. You hear the snapping of about 20 pairs of latex gloves coming off and hitting the floor, trash cans, etc. Phone rings from the lobby. The family is here. Take them to the family room. Let me just say this, seeing a family literally break.down. when they see their 25 year old son breaks your heart. You hear sobs, tears, uncontrollable crying, shrieking. Then it hits you, this is one of the lowest points for this family. Right now, at this very moment, nothing else matters.

The rest of the night was a blur. All in all, we had 22 ambulances. I know I will never forget this night though.

Working in the ER changes you. It truly does. Am I a bit more callous? Yes. I find that I have little patience for people who claim their pain "is a 10 out of 10, but who are playing tetris on their cell phone in the room while they're waiting for the doctor". But I also have a new appreciation for life each and every time I leave that hospital.

Treasures from Antiquing

You know I love visiting antique shops, right? Look at the treasures I found today!

Remember reading these in 1st grade?

And at only $3 each, I just couldn't pass them up!

My word.

What is your word for 2008? I've been reading everyone elses words and getting inspired by their dreams for 2008. But what is mine? Inspire? No. Create? Too overdone. Simplify? Not quite. I need something fun. Something different. That's when it hit me....

Brace yourself.

Are you ready for it?

sparkle.

That's my word.

Glamorous isn't it?

My goal is to "sparkle" in my life (so to speak).

You've seen people sparkle right? They have a glow about themselves. They're happy. Content. Everyone wants to be friends with someone sparkly.

So get prepared for some severe sparkle-ness in 2008.

A Little update

Hey there. Whew! I haven't posted all week? Seriously. What's wrong with me? Oh wait, I've been super busy! I've worked 2 shifts in the ER and I've got another one tonight, Monday night, Tuesday, next Saturday, the following Monday....yikes! The good news...all that work = one glorious paycheck! Whee!

Okay, I just have to brag a little bit here. For Christmas I got the DVD of Hairspray and the soundtrack. I'm a HUGE fan of musicals. This is one of my FAVORITE musicals ever. (It ranks right up there with Wicked). I can not stop listening to the soundtrack. Getting ready, messing around on the computer, etc. I've always got it playing. If you haven't seen this movie, you must rent it. I think I've watched it every day since I got it on Christmas. Wow. I know I've seen it at least 10 times since I got it. *sigh* It's great.

So, how was your New Years? Mine was pretty good, I went out with Wes. We went out with his sister and her husband and then we went to his cousin's house. We had a great time. Wes and I hung out again last night. We watched 3 movies, The Simpsons's Movie (I wasn't that into it, but if you like the Simpsons, you'll enjoy it), A low budget horror movie called Hatchet (it wasn't that scary, but things keep jumping out at you, so it'll make you jump) and Shoot Em Up (Ahh, Clive Owen, he's GORGEOUS!)

My favorite things...

I got a KitchenAid mixer. I've wanted one for about 3 years and I took it out of the box today. It's seriously the best thing. I'm so excited to use it!

Isn't it pretty? Love it!
My pretty apothecary jars. I love the glittered snowflakes I hung on them. I'm looking for pretty trinkets to fill them with.

Check out this darling dish I got at an estate sale. I swear, you can find the coolest stuff there. I think I paid $10 for it and I LOVE it. It's perfect for holding little treasures.