Known Knowns

I got it a few days ago during clinical and was only able to post it today. It was a surprise from Martine over at “Too Many Boys and a Breeder.” I absolutely love it and am constantly astounded at the amazing graphics my blogger friends are able to produce, not to mention the generosity that goes into it, as well! I hope you’ll visit her page to say thanks on my behalf. Go see the pictures of her beautiful family and German Shepherds! Maybe Canadians aren’t so bad, after all…

It’s been a really.nice.weekend.

I didn’t have clinical, so that was a huge bonus. Not that I hate clinical, but I don’t like OB and I do miss my weekends. I used to think an all-weekend shift (where you work both Saturday and Sunday but get paid as a full-time employee while having Monday through Friday off) would be great, but now I know that for someone like me, without kids, and with friends who mostly work Monday through Friday, a weekend shift sucks. I barely get to see my husband, and that’s the worst of all. I can totally see why the folks with kids think this is a fantastic deal; they can be with their kids all week; picking them up from school and being home in the afternoon and such. Ah well. Live and learn.

So, instead of having clinical, I slept in late, hung out with friends, and did a ton of sewing. I haven’t sewn in months and now I realize how much I miss it. Right now, I’m making a set placemats out of this super cute Christmas fabric that I got at a thrift store. I literally got three huge bolts of fabric for six bucks. So, Mom and I went shopping over Thanksgiving and got some backing fabric and accessories. She has FiestaWare, so the placemats are going to be for her (and it’s not a surprise), but I’m having a blast putting them together and I might even make a different set for me once I get done. They are a really good project to just work on basic sewing skills. So far I have 5/8 sewn and ready to attach ribbon to. I’m really getting the hang of hanging onto this kind of slippery fabric that likes to wiggle around when I’m trying to attach it to the backing.

The thing about sewing is, I freaking love it, but I give all my stuff away. Well, I did make myself a dress to wear to a wedding last year. I still have that and I’m always looking for a place to wear it again. But I don’t keep about 99.9% of the stuff I make. And I really want a nice flannel quilt for myself and now I want placemats and maybe some fun throw pillows, too, but people keep getting married and having babies so I never have time to get to those things. Maybe that will be one of my graduation resolutions. Although, I personally think it’s way more fun to give it all away. :)I take a lot of pride in making homemade gifts, especially for my niece. We live so far from her; I really want her to know that I just love the crap out of her, and homemade presents is one way that I feel I can get my point across.

So, it was a fantastic weekend. It’s been a nice semester so far. With only one class at a time, I’m way less stressed, have much more time, and thus, get to do some of my favorite things and remember how important it is to keep that trend even when things get busy.

I have the best Valentine in the world, and to celebrate the world’s stupidest holiday, we are going to our favorite cheap Chinese restaurant (normally it would be a buffet, but we have a nice, MSG-filled restaurant just up the street from us and food is deliciously artery clogging, although I admit that they don’t have sugar biscuits.) We may come across as the most cynical couple ever to have exchanged vows, but there is actually some romance behind this time-honored tradition. You see, our first date was at a Chinese restaurant in Evansville, Indiana. Ain’t it sweet?

Anyway, I know I’ve said it before, but truly, it can never be said enough. Marrying Josh was the best thing I ever did, and I’m so glad he asked. Last night, I was thinking about all the women out there who are walking on eggshells today because they think suspect their unsuspecting boyfriends are going to pop the question. Josh did me a favor and totally caught me off guard; he asked the week before Valentine’s Day, in the middle of a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. And he presented it in such a way that I thought we were going to get into one of our fights, which are often prefaced with “We need to talk.” This was after he was so nauseous that he skipped our Spanish class, although when I told the professor what was going on, I had no idea that Dr. Hammerstrand was in on it, too. Sorry, hon. Didn’t mean to make you nauseous…

Three years later, I’m still making him nauseous, he’s still making me think he’s picking a fight, and we are just damn happy after three years, going on four, going on twenty.  I can’t imagine going through nursing school, or life, for that matter, without him.

XOXOX

Cut sappyness.

The winters here are harsh. I don’t mean brutally cold; I’m referring to the extreme dryness in this part of the country. No other time does it affect me as much as it does in the winter.

My nose has taken this winter quite hard. For the last three months, I have been constantly plagued by rock hard boogers in all the crevices of my nostrils. You know the kind. (Don’t lie.) They don’t come out when you blow your nose, so you’re forced to go digging for gold. If you happen to latch onto one of the nasty green boulders, you’re likely to pull out a few nose hairs in the extraction process, not to mention the likelihood of giving yourself a bloody nose. (And no idiot would ever admit to giving themselves a bloody nose with their own finger while mining for precious metal way up in their sinuses.) I hate that.

I have tried everything to get rid of said snotrods. I used to use a saline spray approximately every 3.2 minutes, to no avail. My classmates became so accustomed to the sounds of my snorts that they barely blinked by the time I tossed my stupid, worthless Ocean Spray. I tried robbing my sore nose with Blistex and occasionally, I even inserted a greased finger up my nostril to lube it up in hopes that the bacterial monsters would slip ‘n slide right now. Nope.

Then I came across this product (the sinus rinse kit at the top,) which I had previously recommended to my Mom to treat her full blown sinus infection. The hippies in this part of town also use something freaky called a Nettie Pot but I’m just not quite ready to insert that thing up my nose. A finger is one thing; a tea kettle is entirely different. You can get the same, non-hippiefied benefits by using a sinus rinse.

And let me tell you–the results have been amazing. No longer is my nose a haven for booger meteorites. Instead, when I automatically go fishing, the inside of my nose is smooth and clean. Although the sensation of squirting salt water up your nose sort of mimics what it’s like to jump in the deep end of the pool without noseplugs, I still recommend this process to anyone with chronically dry nostrils.

Sorry, now that I’ve written it, I realize this post is entirely TMI.  If I don’t write about dog poop, then I have to write about snot, instead. Well, now you all know about the health of my nostrils. Don’t you feel lucky?

Good lord. I haven’t posted this few times since…I don’t know, probably since I started blogging. It’s just that the distinction between school and life is becoming less and less clear, no matter how hard I try to keep them separate. It seems that this semester, I have less and less time to think about things other than school, which is funny because I thought things were going to let up once I was done with pharmacology and pathophysiology. Instead, the clinical work is getting more and more detailed. Someday, I may end up merging my blogs, but I really do think that knownknowns.org helps me keep some perspective that isn’t totally based in nursing. I value that a lot.

The sad thing is, I don’t have a lot to say, unless you want to hear about my OB rotation, which is boring as hell. It’s not all bad, it’s just that floppy vaginas aren’t really my thing, and I like sick patients, not healthy ones.

I’ve been paying some attention to the election, although I didn’t get to participate on Super Tuesday for the previously  mentioned reasons. I have to say that I think the democrats would be making a huge mistake to put Hillary up as the candidate, given her incredibly divisive nature, and her propensity to cry on command if it means someone will vote for her. I also have to say that although I hate, hate, hate John McCain’s love of the Bush administration, I would seriously consider jumping ship if it meant I didn’t have to vote for Hillary.

I. Will. Not. Vote. For. Hillary.

I also dislike John McCain’s policy on the war, but the bottom line is, for me this election is all about finding someone who is honest (a total U-turn from what we have now.) I will likely never find a candidate that matches my ideals in every way, so honesty is my compromise. I don’t believe that John McCain is a liar, nor do I believe that  Barack Obama is a liar, although I think he has more potential than John McCain to end up there. I fully believe that Hillary Clinton is typical politician: scheming, conniving,  and a liar. And for once, we need someone to tell us the truth, whether we want to hear it or not.
I still wish Joe Biden was running, though. Or John Edwards. Wah.

• On top of all the crap we went through with our vet last week, Roland now has kennel cough. My poor baby hacks like an old man all night long, and during the day he lays on his doggie bed and sulks. I think we’ll be finding ourselves a new vet after this. Because kennel cough is so contagious, Roland can’t go to the dog park until he’s completely cleared up. Until he stops eating and drinking altogether, I refuse to put him on antibiotics because he’s young and healthy and should be able to fight on his own. I feel terrible for my little guy, and so does Josh, who even let Roland ride in the back seat instead of the hatch of our Suburu. Despite that, I admit that it’s kind of nice having a normal dog for once; meaning, one who doesn’t have an agenda for the first time in his life, and is content to lay on his bed and just hang out with us.

• I actually watched the Super Bowl last night, although I didn’t know who was playing (or that there even was a game) until that morning. It was the best game I think I have ever watched. I love seeing the underdawgs pull-through. The Patriots clearly had some karma coming their way (with their cheating and Tom Brady’s little stunt.) If all football games were that exciting, I would definitely be a fan.

• Instead of football, my family raises me on politics, and thus, we are all looking forward to Super Tuesday tomorrow. We plan on being glued to the television all night long, and I can’t wait. Unfortunately, Colorado doesn’t have a primary election; instead, they use a caucus. Normally that’s not such a bad thing, but I’m registered as a libertarian so I don’t get to participate tomorrow. DAMNIT. In my heart, I AM a libertarian, but if that means I don’t get to go out and play on Super Tuesday, forget it.

• I’ve been exercising. A lot. And the best part is I’ve been enjoying it and really making an effort to make it part of my schedule. I found a fun kickboxing class at the rec center (makes me realize how much I miss karate) and we play dodgeball on Friday nights. We haven’t won yet, but at least it’s good exercise. I’m also doing this program called CrossFit which is a pretty intense routine that a lot of gymnasts and police officers use, apparently. I love it because it causes me enough pain to make me feel like I’ve done something. I also like the varied routines, not having to come up with any of it myself, and my favorite part is that I can see tangible, real progress, which is so important to immediate-gratification-types like myself. Check it out for yourself at www.crossfit.com. I vowed to try it for at least a month, and now my month is past, so I’m going to keep on it for another month and re-evaluate then.