January 26, 2010

Well, its a big yay today! I passed my first exam (in Fundamentals of Nursing) and second test out on vital signs. This included counting respirations, pulse, taking a temperature, taking an accurate blood pressure, and knowing where/how to take a temperature/blood pressure/pulse in the case that there are other medical things going on with the person. This can include but is not limited to: surgery on the arms, catheters coming out of all kinds of places, unconscious people...you know, the normal stuff you see in hospitals! Oh....and one really important thing....don't ever ever ever let go of the RED thermometer cause you might not be able to get it back! (red = rectal)

So I know I have been lagging, and I apologize, things have been so "heckit" here (I am not even sure that's a real word). Tomorrow I have another exam and another quiz. The first quiz was on APA formatting....since apparently if you're a nurse and want to publish something exotic like say an article, you better darn know how to APA format your paper. Exam is in pharmacology (that's the hard one) and quiz is in Health Assessment. On Thursday, we are instructed to wear "loose-fitting" clothing since we are going to get a lot of practice bathing and putting each other on bed pans. I guess I am just thankful I do not have to be naked and put anyone into neurogenic shock. This Friday, we are all trotting down to Champaign/Urbana (where I live) to learn about the computer programs at Carle Hospital....that's where my clinical is. I will have to be sure to post pictures of that place. Oh and by the way, Champaign and Urbana are basically the same city. They should have the same name. They are just abutt to each other and you really can't differentiate when you are driving through except for the nice signs they post on the freeway >.>

So about that one day it really snow stormed...I have to clarify some misleading things I said before. I remember saying something about watching out for California/out of state drivers. Ahem. ahem. Actually, it's the wonderful in state drivers you have to be careful of because they are the ones who are so used to the weather that they think they can handle it. By the way, there is no way of "handling" black ice. So as I drove to go get my books two weeks ago and then drove to back to school in Danville to show proof of my TB testing, I counted 26 cars on the side of the road.

And as a few of my fellow Michigan friends put it, "They think they can go anywhere with their trucks and SUV's. It don't matter if they got four wheel drive, they are still gonna end up in the ditch!"

Anyhow, Illinois has this great economic way of dealing with cars that go floating across the road. They've built these fabulous ditches that can basically stop even a semi (yes, I saw a jack-knifed semi and a bus on the side of the road too!). They work perfectly to save the lives of people going the other direction, however, they are muy muy muy mal for your car (in english, very very very bad). All the cars I saw had huge indentations and had at least one broken windshield (front/back/sides) due to the impact and push back effect of the um friendly ground. Here's another great example:

 

Hmm, I probably should have zoomed a little on that one. But I wanted to respect their privacy (no license plate). So, onto bigger and better things!

My next area of fun filled pictures for you guys includes pictures of Edward. I went to Petsmart and bought these severely overpriced booties for him because his little legs were shivering when the temp roughly hit 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The following are the "please take these off before I shoot you in your sleep" photos.

 

And yes, he does walk like a duck in them. I wish John and Judy could see, oh man it is soo funny. I should have posted the video on youtube.

 

And yeah, they are extra large because his paws are GiGantique!

 

Here, he is begging for me to remove them. It's ok, Edward!

  

Ah yes, the tree for next year. I'm plotting already to drag it home to San Diego.

LOOK TOBY! IT'S THE GRISWORLD FAMILY CHRISTMAS TREE!

Welllll, I miss all you guys very very much. I meant to call Kristi and tell her that if she ever wants to take those black and white old barn/building photos, there are some great places out here to do that! Ooo, and I am gonna have to go visit the real Amish town they have out here. Perhaps I'll drag mum out for a day trip...

The countdown to graduation is now 470 days.