Where’d ya go?

Changing blogs again! More people seem to use Blogger so that’s where I’ll be at. Hit me up, yo.

Too much good stuff

WordPress seems to have updated their layout etc and I’m liking it. Anyway. Back to me.

Texas was amazing! Well, the state itself is kind of boring (geographically). Very flat. The Gaylord Convention Center (hehe) was incredible. So exquisite. The nursing student convention was so cool and it was very empowering to see so many students with similar interests coming together. It was also nice to see a glimpse of what future options are open to me. It seems like in nursing it is limitless. I found out that there are summer externships around the nation though that will not only give you a stipend for working for them but they will pay for your travel to/from the location as well as the cost of staying in a hotel for the duration of the externship. The one I was told about is located in Houston — which, if given the choice, I probably wouldn’t work there — but it is nice to know that sort of thing is out there so now I have a better idea of what to look for. I’m shooting to get an externship next summer rather than working for orientation again. Other than future employment opps, I also attended some focus sessions. My favorite one was about graduate programs. There is just so much out there for a nurse to do. I think I really want to teach and I think I might like to get involved at the administrative level of nursing school in addition to practicing.

Last Monday, the day after I came back from Texas, we (Mike, Matthew, and myself) drove down to Long Beach. Matthew stayed with his high school friend Tess for the night while Mike and I visited his grandma who coincidentally lives just 6 miles away from Tess. It was nice to see ol’ G. What a trooper. She’s turning 89 this summer and she is still on her game.

The next day the four of us (Mike, Matthew, Tess, and myself) drove down to San Diego where we were able to have a short visit with Lani and her family. Tyson’s adorable! To my surprise we caught Matt on a day off (rare) so it was good to see him too. Lani was nice enough to give us a ride to the harbor where our cruise was embarking from.

The cruise was amazing! 5 days of heaven. The only semi-sucky thing is they automatically charge each guest $10/day for gratuity. This is nice because then you don’t have to feel obligated to tip when it’s 4AM and you’re calling room service for some New York cheese cake and smoked salmon with a bagel and cream cheese. The best part was that the food was practically limitless and charge-free (well, “pre-paid” I guess). We probably all ate the value of our stay since every day we were having some sort of sea food for at least one of our 5 meals. Lobster, beef tenderloin, filet mignon, sea food platter, beef wellington, escargo, grilled mahi mahi, smoked salmon, halibut, calamari… to name a few of our dinner plates. Breakfast and lunch were buffets and usually we had at least 6 pieces of sushi each prior to dinner. Then after dinner we’d go to a show or entertainment of some kind on the ship and by the time it was over, the midnight buffet was started! It was amazing. I probably gained like 10 pounds but I don’t even care because it was so delicious.

Ensenada, Mexico was… meh. It was kind of poverty-stricken and not much to look at. No beach (that we could find). We walked around in the town, browsed a little, bought some tacos then went back on the ship. I didn’t buy anything in their little shops because the shop owners were always so pushy. “Go ahead, try it on. What are you looking for? Do you like that one? Come over here and look at these…” etc. They were just annoying and once store owners start talking to me like that it makes me want to leave. So we did. On our way back to the ship Mike bought me three pairs of dangly earrings. They’re pretty.

Cabo San Lucus was soooo gorgeous. The beach was great, weather was perfect, however the shops were all the same as in Ensenada. By the time we got to the beach we only had like 2 1/2 hours though so Matthew and I went swimming for a while then chilled on the beach with the rest of the crew.

Other cruise memories: badgers (*snort* hiss), 3x750ml, disco dancing, crappy hypnotist, creepy 14 year old, beach games, karaoke, OUR karaoke (bohemian/titantic), Backstreet Boys, food comas, free Dramamine & breakfast in bed, chocolate melting cakes, Punjabi God, British accents, and vomiting/gagging noises.

So the cruise was awesome but when I do it again (and I will) I will plan it for during either winter or summer breaks when I don’t need to come back and start thinking again the next week. Coming back to the real world sucks. Matthew is already planning one for January. I’m not sure if I’ll have the money but if I do I will for sure want to go. I think in total for my room and everything I spent about $450 over the 5 days (including the $50 gratuity), which ain’t bad as far as vacations go, if you ask me.

Postmortem

Today I helped care for a patient postmortem. Some of the nurses and my instructor were worried that I would feel weird about touching a dead body it but it was strangely settling. At first when I found out one of our patients had expired that morning I felt really weird, but once I stepped in the room with him I felt fine. That probably makes me some kind of wacko, but I just thought it was nice to see him laying there so peacefully after having gone through so much pain and unpleasantness.

Survey thing

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday. I was coughing a lot it made me cry.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING ? I guess so. I’d rather type.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey or tuna

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Not at the moment

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would like to think so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? If you’re asking me this, you don’t know me.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope. I wish I did though. I’m now immunocomprimised.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? If I had someone to go with me or something to prove

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Something chocolatey

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Absolutely not.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU’RE STRONG? I’m an ox.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Moosetracks. I’d prefer Big Spoon frozen yogurt over ice cream though.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? if they have messed up teeth. or pimples.

15. RED OR PINK? Pink

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I can be absent minded

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Babies. I wish my nephews and niece were closer.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Not really. I wouldn’t read them all.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Khaki cargos. and my flip flops are on the ground next to me

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Egg sammich

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? A presentation about V.H. who has COPD

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Hunter green. I hang around Sac State too much

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? flowers? pretty things? I don’t know. I don’t like perfume or cologne though

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Umm. I really don’t remember.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Eh, they’re ok

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? HOCKEY

27. HAIR COLOR? blond

28. EYE COLOR? Green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope. But I should get my eyes checked

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Sushi

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Usually scary movies have a happy ending. But I think I’d prefer comedies in the right company.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? No Country for Old Men. It was scary and didn’t have a happy ending. I expected it to be really good but it lost me after the main character was killed. Then it was really slow and boring.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Hunter green.

34. SUMMER, FALL, WINTER, OR SPRING? Summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? pie, frozen yogurt

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND TO THIS? Don’t care.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND TO THIS? The world.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Medical-Surgical Nursing

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nada

41. MAC OR PC? Mac all the way

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? News

43. FAVORITE TV SHOW? House

44. FAVORITE SOUND? text messages. Unless they’re bad.

45. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

46. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Across the Atlantic Ocean

47. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? lots. apparently the “ghetto black girl” impression is my best though.

48. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Burlingame, CA

49. ANCESTRY? English, Welsh, Dutch, German, Irish, etc.

50. COFFEE, TEA, OR ______? I like tea. But chocolate milk is yummy too.

51. FAVORITE BREAKFAST? French toast, sausage links, and an overeasy egg

52. PIE OR CAKE? Pieeee. But cake is yummy too.

53. SLEEP OR EAT? Eat

54. CATS OR DOGS? Doggies

55. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? video games, Facebook, ummm… yeah that’s about all I do in my spare time.

56. HOBBIES/INTERESTS: health, medicine, singing, the outdoors, etc.

57. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Well mine’s been broken for about 3 months and I haven’t driven it since then… so I guess I drive a 2006 Hyundai Elantra

58. MOUNTAINS OR BEACH? Why should I have to choose?

59. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Anyone who’s willing to share.

Ca-Ching

At the end of this month I will be attending the National Orientation Directors Association conference in Anaheim, CA. I will be missing some class and that sucks big time because basically it will mean a lot of make-up work will need to be done. And convincing the professors that I’m not a slacker. About $225.

At the end of March I will be attending National Student Nurses’ Association national convention in Grapevine, TX. I’m a little nervous because I’ve never been to Texas before. I don’t really know what to expect. But I think it should be interesting to see how the process works for becoming a state/national rep for CNSA. About $550.

In the beginning of April I am going on a cruise to Mexico with some nursing classmates, Mike, and a couple other friends. It’s a five day cruise and we’ll be having “excursions” in Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas. I’m really excited because it will be my first spring break where I actually do something out of the ordinary, however… more money. About $550.

I applied for a bunch of scholarships. Let’s hope I get some $$$.

Welcome to Nursing School

We watched a video where a nurse demonstrated how to give a bed bath: first the eyes, then face, ears, and neck, then the shoulders, chest, legs, hands, feet, genitalia, and finally the back. Following this demonstration, a student asked, “What should we do if our male patient gets an erection?”

Good freakin’ question.

My Response from Chipotle

Stephanie,

Thank you for writing us, and I am sorry. And actually the free drinks will be going away for high school students too. We wish all of our customers to pay the same fair price everywhere, and only in CA was there a free drink thing. Unfortunately, it was never intended as more than a test.

I won’t get into your further questions, since they are clearly debatable (I have been through both high school and college myself too), but your last sentence was amusing indeed, and I appreciate the humor. Sorry again, but since most of our college student customers throughout the country and not in CA never had free drinks, we needed to eliminate this test for consistency and also because we don’t normally discount anywhere for any reason.

As you have probably already heard, this will also free up our previously tied up CA marketing dollars again to be able to host promotions and/or fundraisers to have more of an impact on the college campuses where our student customers live, work, and study.

Sincerely,

Joe Stupp
Manager, Duct Tape and Plungers
Chipotle

My letter to Chipotle

I would like to start by saying that I have always been a huge fan of Chipotle ever since I tasted my first Chipotle burrito in high school several years ago in the small town of Cupertino, CA. I was elated when I discovered students received a free drink with the purchase of their burrito. The combination of delicious burritos and a free cup for soda made Chipotle my one and only for quick and delicious meals at a decent price. In 2004 I left Cupertino to attend college in Sacramento, CA and I was pleased to find that my free Chipotle drink carried over and still applied for college students in my area..

Unfortunately, the world as I knew it turned into a distant dream when I heard rumors that Chipotle had discontinued giving free drinks to students. Wait, what upset me further was that when I went to test this rumor the cashier at Chipotle informed me they do in fact still give free drinks to students… high school students. WHAT!! I nearly exploded.

And here is where my rant truly begins.

Where on earth is the logic in charging the poorest and most loyal customers whereas those who still receive lunch money from Mommy/Daddy get catered to? Who contributes more to a community: college students or high school students? Who pays for higher education in attempts to better society? Who researches the best way to produce rBGH-free sour cream? Answer: College students.

I would like to have a real answer. I asked the cashier and all I got was a shrug, followed by “Does that have guac on it?”

I have seen thousands of college students joining together (see Facebook groups such as http://csus.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16580415203) longing for their complimentary cup to be reinstated. What happened, Chipotle? I feel like a friend has betrayed me. We were like high school sweethearts and when I left for college you went and slept with my high school little sister.

I’m dying.

I’ve decided that sort of thing is to be done every weekend, or not at all.

Another thing — I don’t remember snow in Utah being that hard!! Every fall seemed to hurt way more than I remembered falls hurting in Utah. Boo on California snow.

Winter Break

Happy New Year!!!

I have been super busy all break long and it has been wonderful, except it’s going too fast! I’m SOO glad I have a couple more weeks off longer than most people. School resumes Jan 28th and I still have a ton to get done. But first let me recap my break thusfar. This is going to take a while, consider yourself warned.

Well it has been awesome. It kicked off making an extra couple hundred bucks as a student host for commencement ceremonies. It was pretty easy and definitely worth 10 bucks an hour. Right after work Matthew dropped me off at the airport and I flew down to San Diego after a couple hours of delay. San Diego was good times. We walked around Balboa Park and partook of beautiful San Deigo in the middle of December — no jackets required. It was crazy. Took some cool pics (see Facebook). Christmas was awesome. Lani worked hard and made an excellent Christmas dinch. Of course the yams were my favorite but the roast was fantastic as well. Thanks, Lani! I got lots of cool stuff for Christmas as well. Best of all was a 37″ Vizio HDTV from my mom! It’s amazing. I also got a cardigan and flour/sugar canisters from Lani/Matt/Tyson, a long sleeve T-shirt from Trevor, a knife block from Saundra, a pearl necklace and B&B Works gift basket from my dad, a sushi set from Spandi & Co., an Altec Lansing iPod docking station/stereo, “The Darling Book for Girls”, and “The Making of a Nurse” from Mike’s parents, a hot cocoa set from Jenny, a nice watch from Mike, and money from grandparents. So much good stuff! Thanks everyone!!!

The gift exchanges this year were a little odd though. I had Christmas v1.0 with Lani and her family along with Trevor and my mom; Christmas v1.5 with Mike’s parents; Christmas v2.0 with my dad; and finally Christmas v2.5 with Spandi & Co. and my Grandpa Criddle. It was a lot of cool stuff spread out over like 4 days.

It was fun to spend some time with Lani and her family. Tyson is getting bigger and is spending more time awake and responsive. Unfortunately he wasn’t feeling so good while we were out there so he was allegedly a little fussier than usual. I think it’s funny he’s super sensitive to Trevor’s sneezes and coughs… he would spas and cry if Trevor made too loud of a noise. Poor baby. Lani got a PS2 and DDR with some sweet dance pads. Unfortunately one of the dance pads had a broken pin but should be covered by the return policy. So we spent some time on Christmas day and the following day dancing it up. We also took a walk to the mall and did a little shopping and visited Matt at work. Thanks Matt and Lani for letting us stay there! Lots of fun.

After Christmas Trevor, my mom and I flew to Cupertino and spent some time there. I got to see Mike’s family including his sister who I haven’t seen for over a year. We went to see “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the SJ Convention Center. Apparently the man playing Jesus was the guy who originally did it in the 70s. He was an amazing singer especially for being in his 50s. It was a really good show and I’m glad the Landers let me tag along. The next day my mom took Mike and me to see Body Worlds 2 at the San Jose Tech Museum. It was really impressive and neat to check out. They just opened a knock-off one here in Sac and Mike and I wanna check it out too and see how they compare.

After a couple days in Cupertino Trevor, Libby, my dad, Saundra and myself flew to SLC for a visit. Trevor, Libby and I stayed at Spencer’s house and my dad and Saundra stayed with one of our uncles. Staying with Spandi & Co. (I think I’ll call them that from now on) was great because not only are they terrific people, but Isaac and Kaitlyn are so friggin’ cute. One might want to eat their faces. We had lots of fun hanging out, playing board/card games (and dominoes), and chillaxin. Unfortunately bitter cold temperatures and a lack of appropriate snow gear (what can I say, we’re from California) kept us from ice skating or sledding like I had wanted to. We went to this New Years festival thin in downtown SLC and if it wasn’t sooooo cold it would have been more fun and if we had been there a little earlier to see the good shows. But life happens and we got there late and were only able to see the ending of what looked like a pretty cool break dance performance and stayed to watch a fire dancing performance that ended up being pretty amateur therefore more scary than entertaining. The free ice skating turned out to be a bust due to a line out the wazoo and the fact that it was 15° out there. So we walked around temple square to see the lights and went home because Isaac said his toes were going to explode and he wanted to cut them. Throughout our short time in Utah we were some how able to see most of the family in some way, except the Jardine cousins. It was a quick trip, but fun-filled and busy. Thanks Spandi & Co.!

So after flying back to Cupertino, Mike and I drove back to Sac just in time for the storm of the year to hit. It was raining super hard and winds were gusting up to 60 mph. Trees,  branches, and powerlines all over Sacramento were falling down and nearly everyone lost power at some point. A car in my apartment complex had a tree fall in it and smashed its windshield. There is still debri throughout on the streets throughout Sacramento

So that just about sums up everything in the past month or so. Tomorrow I am going snowboarding with Mike, and I’m nervous but excited. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been snowboarding and I was in a lot better shape back them. I’m afraid I’m going to get owned by my own suckiness tomorrow. We shall see.