Reflections & Resolutions

So I've been in a rut for a long time. Anyone close to me has to have been able to see that. I've turned into a mean & bitter person, and mostly secluded myself from others. I've pushed away people that I love. And I haven't been taking great care of myself anymore either - physically or spiritually.

It's time to change. Who says resolutions have to be on January 1?

• be nicer - I'm not outwardly malicious, but my anger can tend to flare up. I'm going to try not to get so angry at little things, like drivers that cut me off & don't signal or my neighbor's bulldog howling ALL the time. I'm still not going to accept loud music in the middle of the night, but that's just inconsiderate & actually interferes with my life.

• forgive & move on - I hold on to a lot of negative feelings when I think people have mistreated me. I know that I'm not perfect & would appreciate a second chance & forgiveness from those that I've wronger in some way or another. On this same note, I'm apologizing to people that I know I have not treated fairly. There is one that will be a huge step for me. I may have my reasons for my behavior, but that doesn't make it less rotten.

• exercise - aside from the fact that I've packed on some weight since returning from the island (yeah, I don't walk up hill both ways to school every day anymore, and I don't get my salsa lessons every Friday [sad!]), physical activity is just GOOD for you. I'm starting with baby steps & plan to play my Dance Praise at least 30 minutes a day 4 days a week (or substitute another activity).

• get closer to God - I've been reading The Purpose Driven Life, and that's helping some, but my Bible has been neglected for a while, and I haven't had a home church since I lived in Marion, IN and graduated in 2007.

Sounds like a good start, right?

Rambles

I'm sort of feeling like I'm in a weird place lately. I have lots to say, but nothing that is really blog-worthy/appropriate. So again I find myself keeping it in. I will confess that I've been feeling sort of lonely & lost. And I've started reading "The Purpose-Driven Life", which I think was more of a subconscious decision than anything. You read a chapter a day for 40 days, and I've had this book since someone randomly gave it to me at Kingdom Bound in 2003. I started reading it back then, but only got through about 6 or 7 days. Today is day 5. Hopefully I'll keep it up this time. I will likely write something that the book inspires if I do.

Another thing that has been weighing on me is the realization that I'm going to be alone for CMA fest this year. I really want to go, and I know I'd find friends there, but not real keen on flying solo. I've asked friends to go, but the only ones interested can't seem to make it or they're already going with other people. I've looked for roommates among people that I know are going, but nobody seems to really want me there. There have been offers "hey you can stay with us", but I'm afraid I'd be disappointed that they're only offering a hotel room split rather than a vacay buddy...

Oh the weather outside is frightful

As you may know, the midwest (& possibly other places) got hit with a nice little winter storm on Tues/Wed this week. Well yesterday I decided to stay in where it's warm. I did however seek whether my facebook minions would like for me to go out in the cold today & build them a snowman. Either 19 or 20 people decided that I did indeed have to go build a snowman.

SO, I got all bundled up in 2 pairs of pants & 2 shirts, 2 pairs of gloves, and my coat & boots & all and went out to make that snowman. BTW, I put a carrot in my pocket because I was obsessed with trying to figure out what to do about his face. Anyway, I discovered right away that that snow was not packing together. It was all light & fluffy, and I got self conscious because here I am, a 25-year-old woman all by herself going out to play in the snow, and there was a woman standing on her balcony talking on her cell phone. I tried a few times to pack the snow into a ball, which ultimately ended in poofs of powdery snow falling from my hands. I can't lie, I was discouraged. In the mean time I decided I had to do SOMETHING. So I fell back & made a snow angel:
ha, I didn't realize until after I climbed out that my left wing was smaller than my right. My bad.

But I knew that my facebook friends wanted a snowman. I had promised a snowman. So I set to work. I clearly was not going to be able to roll a ball bigger and bigger in the traditional snowman making manner so I started mounding up some snow that I figured I could sculpt after I got it tall enough. It was not an easy feat, but I accomplished a decent sized mound and then managed to lift a sort of solid chunk of snow to the top for a head. It looked freakishly like ET. Got my camera from my pocket to take a picture, and lo & behold "battery is exhausted". Bah! I finished up my little snowman & ran inside to grab my camera... and my stethoscope:

Yeah, one of my fellow students still on the island demanded that I provide medical care for my creation. :D With my mission accomplished I took back my sunglasses to go inside, but I thought it would be too sad to leave him without eyes.
With those eyes we sort of have the same smile. We must be related. ;) ...And I keep peeking out my window to see if anyone has come along & destroyed him yet.
So far so good. :D

Verizon & FedEx

Oh such joy these past 2 weeks. So upon returning to the US I went & got myself a Blackberry. Said Blackberry has had numerous issues with freezing on me & not working again until the error message comes up & has me reset the phone. Not acceptable working conditions. It didn't start really acting like that until after I moved to Saginaw, but luckily on January 17 I was back home for some appointments, so I ran into the store at the mall & talked to "Ray", the guy working that day. This guy was either intellectually challenged or inept at his job, as he told me to just hook the phone up to my computer & update it, and that should help. I explained my situation and how I had moved out of town & asked him if I could take the phone into any Verizon store if I still had problems with it. Oh yeah, of course you can...

No. No, you can't. So after a trip to the local Verizon store on January 19, where they told me that I would have to drive the 2 hrs home in the next 2 days (in the midst of orientation/class & studying for Comp) before my 30-day warranty ended or come back to them then & they'd give me a refurbished phone. Again, no. Called the guy I bought the phone from & explained the situation, and he assured me that they would FedEx a phone to me & then I could just send back the defective one. Ok, great, Jon, you rock. Expect the phone on either Friday or Monday...

Wednesday, January 26 rolls around. A working Blackberry has yet to be seen. So I call the Verizon store again and am told to look up the phone number for the nearest FedEx location & they probably have the phone there. Google fails me in this regard, and after I don't even KNOW how many more calls to Verizon & FedEx both, I am informed that FedEx sent the phone back because they had the wrong address. Call Verizon again & let them know what happened, and they go to send another phone. The FedEx system won't let them put in both digits of my apartment number (people with 3 digits are just screwed!), so the girl I was talking to figured out a way around it to make sure it would get to me this time. The phone will be sent out Thursday & arrive Friday or Monday. Awesome, about time!

Well on Friday the 28th I had class until like 3pm, and of course missed FedEx, BUT they left a door tag saying either go pick it up or they would try to deliver two more times. Well that's perfect because Monday, the 31st is only a half day & Tuesday we have nothing scheduled. Now on Monday I get back from class around 11am and am delighted to find no door tag. I didn't miss FedEx! I'll have a phone by the end of the day! ...no again. FedEx never showed up yesterday. Finally I called FedEx this morning to try to figure out what happened, and they tell me that they sent the freaking phone back to Verizon... after ONE attempt at delivery. Now they are supposedly looking into the situation. They were also supposed to call me about the case today "after 1pm". When I called at 4 the lady sounded irritated that I wasn't patient enough & informed me that they were still working on my case. How hard can it be to find out WHY they sent back a package without really trying to deliver it? Anyway, I just got off the phone with Verizon now after being on hold for a full 20 minutes. They can't order another one until they receive phone number 2 back. Ok, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure I get a stinking phone... you know, sometime this decade. Hopefully I will hear back from FedEx tomorrow, and the person I spoke with at Verizon said she would call me back either Thursday or Friday to let me know when they are shipping a working Blackberry.

Overall, so far Verizon gets a passing grade for handling the situation fairly well (except for Ray of course), and FedEx gets a FAIL.

The Joy of Cars

So I always feel inspired to write a blog while I'm in the shower, and then by the time I'm out & dressed & got my contacts in & lotion on my skin the motivation is lost. But, a few updates since we last shared...

This week I took my big comprehensive exam, got 2 fish, got my car fixed so it not only starts but also has working heat on all four settings and not just the top 2, flushed 1 fish, and went to Snow Fest 2011 in Frankenmuth with my friend Glenda & her husband. And of course had classes and went to my first clinical at the nursing home. That first day of clinicals brought a little adventure courtesy of my friend Josh and his poor car...

First off, for some reason I thought we were supposed to be there by 8AM so Josh was going to pick me up at 7:40 so we could finally carpool since we live in the same apartment complex. I ended up being ready to leave by 7:20, at which time I noticed that Josh had called. He had discovered that we don't start until 8:30 at the nursing home. Yeah, guess I could have slept about another 40-50 minutes. Oh well. So he came to get me at 8:10. I got to witness the weird electrical outage his car was experiencing that he'd been talking about (the radio & panel lights & speedometer had been stopping working for a few minutes at a time for a few days - sorry if that's not 100% accurate, Josh). Anyway, about a half mile down the road, as we almost reach the corner to get gas, the car starts sort of sputtering & idling along & finally stops in the middle of the left turn lane. He sort of looks at me stressed & worried & says he didn't think his gas was THAT low. I laugh in my laid-back, possibly somewhat inappropriate manner, and we decide that I'll put it in neutral & steer and he'll push it up to the gas station. When it came time to turn left into the gas station, I can't lie, I sort of feared for our lives. It was a red light, but it could turn green at any moment, right? Kudos to his strength & speed, because we got into that gas station, and then as I realized I didn't know what side his gas tank was on I sort of worried again & hit the brakes to slow us down & opened the door as we were still gliding to ask. Then another guy came over & helped push the car the rest of the way in.

So whew, catastrophe averted, the car is getting filled with gas... Except then it still wouldn't start. Again with the inappropriate laughter & savoring the new experience. I called the woman who would be supervising us at the nursing home (we'll call her Dr P) to let her know we'd be about 10 minutes late, but she didn't answer so I had to leave a message. Then we pushed the car over to a parking spot at the gas station, ironically in front of a "service station", and Josh called his wife Kelly to come pick us up so I could drive. This was right after my car had just gotten fixed itself. We walked part of the way back & Kelly met us before we got too far. And I got smiles from their kiddo & talked to him about his Elmo slippers. Pretty sure I never had slippers that cool as a kid, but I wasn't into Sesame Street either.

Anyway, I pulled into the nursing home about 8 minutes late, and we hurried inside... so find the rest of the students waiting in the lobby because Dr P hadn't shown up yet. Rock on, way to be professional doc. Some of the other students tried to call her too and couldn't reach her so they called the person who is basically in charge of organizing our lives this semester. Pretty sure she didn't know what was going on either. Dr P showed up around 9am unaware that anyone had called her or that she was half an hour late. She insists that she can't possibly make it by 8:30 since she has to drive 50 minutes (cry me a river) so we have to change OUR schedule to fit hers. We worked it out to cut our lunch hour in half so we can start at 9, but I sure wasn't gonna settle for having to stay til 5:30 without a fight. I still think it's ridiculous that she can't even meet the demands that we students are expected to follow, but at least we get to sleep in another 30 minutes.

The final awesomeness of the day comes in the form of our patient rejecting us. haha. Actually TWO patients did that. The first was concerned about personal matters and told Dr P that before we got started. The next patient agreed to talk to us, and then before we left Josh asked if we could come back & talk to him next week (something Dr P didn't specify to him like she did the first), and he said no. He didn't want to see us again. It's nothing personal, he explained about all the people that come in to see him all the time (not family visitors, but professionals). Oh well, hopefully we'll get a nice patient next week.

BTW, Storm is doing well & has discovered his love for playing with the shower curtain, the vertical blinds, and ponytail holders, which he sort of fetches. :heart:

Just checking in

So a week later. Gosh, maybe I should write something. Hopefully the tiny ball of energy attacking my clothes in the closet won't be too distracting. lol

And now I will take a few moments to gush with love & pride over my little Storm. Only a pet lover can know the wonderful joy & peace these guys can bring. Oh, now he's gonna sit on my lap & supervise. This morning we discovered the excitement of milk carton rings. My great aunt had a cat that would fetch them so I dropped one down this morning & Storm went crazy over it until it disappeared under the stove. Yes, truly heartbreaking. And this afternoon when I got home from class I laid on the floor & played with him with a different milk ring (I splurged & bought a gallon of chocolate milk. mmmmm) & his toy lizard.

Anyway, in other news, it seems that about 95-98% of the time now I'm pretty happy & content. Although I did find a few stumbling blocks along the road to rejoining civilization yesterday. The short version is that Verizon is sending me a new Blackberry b/c I'm still under warranty but unable to go in to the store in Port Huron before TOMORROW, my car is in need of repair, and the cable/internet guy "forgot" to tell me about the rental fee for the modem. Oh, the people above me also suck because they play loud music pretty much every day. I see a conversation with the landlord in my future. Seriously, I don't understand how inconsiderate some people can be.

So this week was the start of 5th semester. Orientation, free lunch 3 days in a row, and the start of lectures that aren't really a lot of new information. At least not yet anyway. Pretty helpful in reviewing for the Comp & Step 1 though. Looking forward to BLS & ACLS training and some of the clinics.

And... time got away from me! 6 minutes until Grey's Anatomy!

Meet the baby

Hello, and welcome back to the non-adventures of my little life. Today's issue will be dedicated to introducing my newest family member, Storm:
He was born at the Sanilac County Humane Society on 8-8-10, making him 5 months old now, and ever so spunky. His mommy is a pretty white kitty named Snow, and the shelter named her babies Storm, Flurry, and Blizzard. haha. How could I take away that legacy? So I kept his name.

He started out with some sneezes & a runny eye, meaning that our first 2 weeks together were riddled with giving a kitten antibiotics. If you've ever tried that you know what a joy it is. That eye is still gooey, so I foresee more eye drops in our future. And unfortunately, my mom had to take her Oscar to the vet yesterday because he caught Storm's cold. She also tells me that he has been moping around since Storm & I moved to Saginaw on Monday. :( Poor Oz. Despite Dad's resistance, something tells me that Oscar will be getting a new playmate fairly soon, as the vet told Mom that some cats never get over losing a buddy & need a new friend to recover from their depression.

Anyway, I guess I better rewind a little bit... I brought Storm home to my parents' house right before Christmas. The shelter ladies warned that we should keep him separate from any other housepets & slowly introduce them... My dad doesn't listen very well. As soon as he gets home he insists that Oscar needs to meet Storm. He brought him into the bathroom where I was keeping Storm, and oh boy did Oscar watch him. He was a little afraid of him at first, not letting that little invader get too close. After about 3 days of separation with supervised visitation, they started playing together, and before we knew it, this happened:
Yeah, Oscar adopted Storm. I don't know if he thought this was his new baby or what, but he'd bathe his face & neck & ears. They'd chase each other around the house and wrestle, and Oscar even shared his condo. They also napped together on several occasions, and Storm would squeeze himself between Oscar & my mom on Mom's pillow. Yes, insert jealousy here.

Anyway, my wonderful family helped me move all my stuff to my new apartment in Saginaw, and then I went back home for a couple days & brought Stormy with me to actually move in on Monday. He has adapted to his new home quite well and spends his time divided between sleeping on the love seat (or sometimes cuddling on my lap :heart:), and patting my leg to play with him with his favorite toy.
He seems to have lost interest in playing by himself with his pink lizard. I am more fun, apparently. We're currently practicing the skill of waving that thing around while reading/studying. It's a work in progress.