I PASSED ACLS

I am not sure when the last time I seriously got so stressed out about a test. I think being TOLD I had to take this for my job and of course also having to pass it put a smidge of pressure on me. I figure, I've done my job for almost 15 years now without these credentials....why do I have to have them now? Well, when we moved to the new hospital all of a sudden I became a telemetry nurse. Did I ask to be one? No. Did I want to be one? Ah...certainaly no. Cardiology has never interested me. Am I enjoying it now? Well.....I'm trying to embrace it. I think taking this class has hopefully boosted my confidence a bit. Certainly not enough to run down to ICU and ask to be pulled to work there to get some experience...no....I don't think so! But maybe someday. So, in a nut shell, I am glad it is over. I had to run a code...it's called Megacode...you have to lead your group in a code....determine what rhythm the pt is in, shock or not shock, what drugs to give and the dosages. Then there was the written test....25 questions....had to get 80% to pass...so no stress there! Add to all of this the emense fear of getting a migraine at any minute. Oh and the peer pressure. Yes, you could cut that with a knife!! LOL...I'm how ever old I am and I think that was what stressed me out the most. The fear of failing in front of my co workers.

It really is amazing I passed since it seems I have done a few lunches lately. :-) Add to the list...a dinner the other night with my college friends!! Thank you Stacy for reminding me to take a couple of pictures for the blog. Gena had already left but it is me and Julie and Stacy and Nancy (Stacy left and Nancy on the right). Thank you Nancy for the cake...such a great treat that I of course totally deserved. As usual, it was great to catch up and spend some girl time again. Looking forward to our next gathering at my house!

A Three Hour Lunch

About every other month or so I get together for lunch with a group of nurses I used to work with at Baptist. We chit chat about our lives, kids, parents etc and jobs. It's usually about 4 of us...due to Matthew's flu, I missed the last lunch. Today was a little different as I had invited a couple surprise guests. Well, one, due to my mom bailing out on baby sitting (don't even get me started on THAT), I had to bring Matthew...so there is one guest. Then another guest was Lisa, who drove in from Lawrence. Last I had seen Lisa was at a diabetic seminar when she was pregnant with her 3rd child....so about 18+ months ago. Lisa is one year older than me, has NOT aged a bit and was sooooo much fun to work with. I remember orientating to peds, having no kids to orientate with and painting the nails of two old ladies one day. It sure was fun to catch up. I also remember starting an IV on a 5 week old with Lisa....I was so nervous...I got the IV in but then my hands were shaking so bad, I couldn't tape it up. Yeah...peds isn't my calling. My other guest was Cheri. Cheri has been in my blogs before....today she is 37 weeks pregant with #3...her two girls are Lilly and Lucy...who Matthew ADORES. They were very well entertained by The Bee Movie. Lunch was a blast. The other guest that doesn't usually come was Alice....Alice orientated me too when I was a new nurse and used to walk so fast I could hardly keep up! It's nice to see that she is enjoying her retirement years.( even after an MI and open heart surgery)....there is a payoff someday!! lol I realized today how fortunate I was to have such great nurses that molded me into the nurse I am today. Janey taught me about 401k's and urology....Henri was my first nurse manager...and trust me, no one else compairs. I was truely blessed to have started my career at Baptist.....I was put there for a special reason,I'm quite certain of it.

Out to Lunch

Tomorrow is my friend Lindsay's birthday so it was off to lunch today to celebrate. Really, we don't need too much of an excuse to get out of the house during a rainy day on the first day of Spring Break. It was Lindsay, her 9 month old son Chase, Julie from work, her 5 year old daughter Hailey and 19 month old son Braden, Me and Matthew. We went to a mexican restuaruant which, probably due to the rain, wasn't too crowded with St. Pats Day drinkers just yet. Seriously, it's been POURING all day! Now, for those reading this blog that were supposed to join us for lunch...the rain won't cause you to melt and if those of us with kids can drag our butts out...so can you....we expect you at the next meal. LOL...we love you still and you know who you ARE!!!!! :-) Off to finish cleaning, start some laundry, pay some bills....ah, just gotta love Mondays!

Keith Urban ROCKS

It was certainly a concert I won't soon forget! I have to say, I'm not a huge Carrie Underwood fan (opening act) and I'm still not. She had about 3 or 4 costume changes and her last song, Before He Cheats was pretty much the highlights of her performance for me.

Finally intermission came...I am one of those weird people that actually enjoys watching them tear down one stage and assemble the next....the HUGE speakers and just how quickly this all took place always amazes me. After about 30 minutes, Keith finally took center stage and I was in HEAVEN.

One cool thing was he had a HUGE screen set up behind the stage and there was a camera on him for a majority of the concert. So, if you didn't have the best seats, you could watch him on the screen. For part of the show, they went into the middle area so the back of the audience could get a better look:

Then there was a time when he went into the audience, nearly directly across from us. There he sang one of my favorite songs (Look Good in My Shirt), signed his red guitar and gave it to a lady in the audience. OMG!!! How cool was that??

He really is such a fun performer to watch. After his last encoure, the band was throwing guitar pics out into the audience and the house lights were barely on, people were filling out and Keith was still out shaking hands. How cool was that? And where was my camera? Oh yeah...in my purse because I was too busy gauking. LOL.

Where Have I Been?? and PRAYER REQUEST

I've gotten this question in a few emails so I thought I'd catch everyone up on why I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks. First, my mom got a wild hair to move. It was pretty much out of the blue...much like when she first moved here originally. She just announced one day she was going to save money and move to the one bedroom duplex directly across from her current two bedroom duplex. Hmmmm....and just how was this all going to get accomplished? You guessed it...ME!! So, without asking if this was a good time in my life to help her, and without reguard for how she's treated me lately, I've been helping her pack like a freaking mad woman. I'm exhausted and trying to keep the fact that I'm irritated with her for being such a pack rat and hoarder to myself. I did throw a ton of stuff away but it isn't nearly putting a dent in her amount of clutter. So she moves tomorrow and tomorrow night I have the Keith Urban concert to look forward to attending :-)

I did go to the neurologist today. After last Monday's appointment confusion, it seems they all know me by name and were VERY appologetic. Uh Uh. Trust me, I got my 40 minutes!! I had some lab work done....have I mentioned my fear of needles and she wants me to increase my dose of Topamax at night. Oh great....I have my ACLS test at the end of the month and lets increase the drug that is already making me absent minded, difficulty concentrating and not to mention the numbness in my hands and feet. I think I'll start that dose Sunday night!

About the prayer request. I've blogged about her before. Her name is Shawndra Turner and I've been reading her blog for some time now. She is going to have surgery on Thursday for her cancer. Here is the link to her blog: http://www.shawndraturner.blogspot.com/ She really is a remarkable young woman/mom/wife/nurse. Thanks!!