Gross and great

I will not describe what I did today as a nursing student.

But I'll tell you that it was both incredibly disgusting and incredibly invigorating.

Everyone poops, pees, farts, sweats and gets a little gross while they're sick. And that's fine.

My weak sense of smell makes me a good person to step in when things are nasty. My sense of intrigue and curiosity make me a pleasant person, even in the midst of mess. I'm home from a day at the hospital, one "hot mess" of a patient (according to a nurse, not me!) and after a nice shower I'm feeling pretty fantastic.

10 Miles in 10 Weeks

On Saturday May 26 I'm going to run 10 miles.

That's far, at least for me, and I'm very excited. It's something to focus on, something to work toward, something to get me outside when I'd rather sit around, and something that I can be really proud of (once I finish).

I did the 10-miler in 2009 and did a training program through my local Fleet Feet. It was really fun and a good learning experience. But I'm doing this on my own this year. I still have the training schedule from 2009 to guide me and I'm certainly capable of googling other running plans if need be.

This creepy-warm weather has been making me a little nervous for all this running, but I know I can do it. I'm going to do run on Tuesdays after clinicals and Thursdays (technically the end of my school week). On Saturdays (or Fridays or Sundays) I'll do my longer runs -- the longest is 8 miles. Mostly this training just gets me running frequently and running further gradually.

I've already decided that once I hit 10 miles of distance I'll make an appointment for a massage I received as a gift! Go me!

Home

I'm home, from five wonderful days in San Diego, and ready for what the rest of this semester has for me.

I took a wacky red eye flight home, giving me all day Friday to rest. I also used Friday to catch up on schoolwork and have an evening out!

Three friends and I met up in Oak Park at New Rebozo for Mexican awesome-ness. We all had enchiladas, margaritas and enjoyed the beauty of chips-&-salsa. The chef at New Rebozo walks around, meets every table, kisses (yes!) everyone who sits down for a meal and makes sure you're happy. I don't think you can get much better than good Mexican food, margaritas and friends, so this was excellent fun for a Friday evening.

I don't have all the photos from our travels -- most are with B, who is in Austin for SXSW -- but I can say that we had a positively terrific time in the Golden State. We walked a ton, biked twice and rested a lot. We also drank a fair share of beer/wine/cocktails and ate a good amount of seafood. Oh, how I love seafood! I should eat fish sandwiches everyday!

While B is gone I'm enjoying the good stuff:

• turning down the temp in the apartment! It's set at 60 now! I'm snuggled up with Mr. Meowgi and a fleece blanket, but I love it!
• buying and eating an entire salad in a bag!
• getting a ton of schoolwork done!
• watching crime dramas on Netflix.

Mostly, I miss B so I'll divert myself with activities, like movies and phone calls and interesting meals and events. That's fine -- I also have tons of school stuff to do, so I will busy while B is busy in Austin!

Ole!

Sitting seaside

Yesterday we rented beach cruisers (awesome wide wheeled bikes built for merrily cruising down a sandy boardwalk), rode a Tilt-a-Whirl and drank beers on a patio as the sun set.

Today is cloudy and a little cooler but we are happy as clams staying inside a bit. B is working and I'm studying as we listen to the ocean and sip beers - what a delightful vacation!

Sunny California

We are here in beautiful San Diego. Julie picked us up at the airport and we haunted off to fish sandwiches, a stroll at Point Loma and then to Pacific Beach where we are staying. We walked along the boardwalk and picked out where we will stay in many years when we can rent a house with a fancy kitchen and excellent seating. We ate a fine dinner and drank a terrific bottle of wine - oh happy spring break!

Who's got an iPhone?

Me?!?!?

Yes, it's true. After years with a not-so-great phone and a profound interest in access to a Bus Tracker, email-on-the-go and other niceties of smart phones, I went big.

I'm now an iPhone-r with a cool little outfit on it. I've downloaded exactly one application -- a nursing app with drug information, among other things. I may download some more, but I'm pretty interested in finding the best of what I'm after so I'll be pokey about it for sure. But I'm enjoying the techiness of it, the funny doorbell ring I selected and the option to do a lot while I'm on the move.

iPhone alumna Julie tells me to not focus on anything perfect with the iPhone. "If you're looking for the perfect case, you'll be looking forever. They're everywhere," she said. Just as I stumbled upon some Twilight ones at Target.

I've set up my contact information and weeded out quite a few strangers from my phone book (pardon me, Jacky, Nicole P., and something called Damen which is in reference to my street somehow).

Tomorrow B and I have a full list of fun to-dos before we depart:

• eat all the perishables in our house (we've been plotting this all week... so there are four strawberries, a 1/3 gallon of milk, two red peppers to serve with ground sausage, two parsnips, and a tiny bit of yogurt).
• go to the library (again) for our travel books! exciting! we went on Friday afternoon, but the power was out at the library from a rainstorm (?) so we have to return to get the goods.
• pack! and figure out if we still own a suitcase.
• address whatever suitcase issues we come upon
• clean the house, just enough so I come home to a happy place, as opposed to a messy place, next week.
• find as many travel-sized items as I can. I know we've got stockpiles here and I definitely want to use them up!
• pack snacks, clothes, shoes, books, homework, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats and all sorts of other goodies.
• do laundry -- including a red fleece load. The red fleece load includes two things: my red fleece zippy and a red fleece blanket. Both are incredibly warm and soft and wonderful. Both ruin any non-red-fleece items washed with them. So, there's a special load just for them. Lucky red fleece!

We might have time for some food shows on PBS, right? Or is there an app for that, too? Yay!

Packing

So excited about traveling to San Diego -- sorry to turn this blog into a bragfest, but I can't wait!

Today I finished up my the school stuff that has to be done at school. I've got big plans for the time between now and our departure for lecture-listening and heavy-textbook-reading. Tomorrow I'm making a super-fantastic Target run, for some travel goodies, springtime stuff and food fill the cupboards when I get home.

• swimsuit
• maybe a t-shirt or a comfy dress in a springy shade
• some travel size stuff or at least a container to fill up with our stuff
• snacks
• sunblock

I'll also stop in at the library to get a novel to carry alongside my new NCLEX (nursing boards) study guide book. I won't be packing too much, but I will be braining a nice stack of notebooks, PowerPoints printed off from lectures, and study materials. My new nursing study book is arriving by Amazon tomorrow and I'm excited to recruit B as my new study-buddy.

I promise not to be a total school nerd during our vacation. I do love the idea of being on the beach and getting some of this knowledge in my brain. I love the idea of sipping a cold beer next to B with a book in my hand and sand between my toes.

In happy, happy news -- guess what the new #1 job is? Yup, Registered Nurse!