church & life.

Although I have been going to church for ever (and the same church for most of the time!), I've never really felt connected anywhere. My church growing up had a revolving door of youth pastors, so there wasn't much of a chance to connect with one, or to formulate a strong connection with a youth group.

Since moving out, I've been going to a different church in the city with my roomie. The services were fabulous, but since it's a monster-size church, I was feeling rather lost in the crowd. So, I went out on a limb a joined a young adults group that met off campus. Turns out, the leader is the same lady from my youth group in grade 11, and several people from camp/school are in the same group! Small world! All that to say, I'm so thrilled with joining. It's more than easy to just attend church once a week and then leave without meeting anyone. But stepping (ha - more like leaping!) outside my comfort zone and meeting people, without a clue of how things would go, turned out to be a massively amazing blessing for me. I now feel connected at church, like I am part of it. I still have many more names to learn and people to meet, but it's off to a wonderful start! God is too great.

D.

sunday mornings.

Sunday mornings are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Here's how it works: Saturday I work in the AM, go to church in the PM, then back at residence in the evening. This leaves the entire Sunday open and free to fill with activities like sleeping, drinking coffee, wearing pajamas, and catching up on homework. It's so lovely to lazily began my day after a hectic week.

This weekend I was telling my mom about an awkward incident at the gym. While I was running, a guy was trying to catch my attention. I've seen him there before, we've ran side by side a few times, but that day he purposefully (I think, at least) came over to talk. Being the wonderful socializer I am, I kept running. Even through my break. And avoiding eye contact. UGHHH. I'm cringing just remembering it. And do you know what's silly? I have an easier time talking to patients, complete strangers, while giving them a shower. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, I think I'm inept at life sometimes. Mom joked that I will be one of those crazy cat ladies, living alone with 20 cats, a huge library of book, deciding to gray naturally. Sadly, that COULD HAPPEN AT THIS RATE! Oh dear, oh dear. I need to work on this.

Tonight I'm going to a different small-group bible study. Through reviving old connections, I managed to find a group that meets on Sunday nights in Edmonton. So maybe this is my chance! To talk to strangers and fight-off my 'crazy cat lady' future. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

D.

wounds!

I must admit, I've been a little frustrated with nursing lately.

Every class has been about therapeutic relationships, active listening, how to conduct an interview, the nursing process, yada yada yada....

I don't always sit well with with the fluffy-lovey-dovey stuff.

But today, we started the good stuff: wound care. FINALLY! Some blood and guts! Even when preparing for class - doing the readings, watching the vidoes - I found myself enjoying all the strategies and techniques behind it. Asepsis. Surgical asepsis. Drains. Dressing. Sutures. Staples. At this point, my scope of wound care is just basic, but it's an area that I am surprisingly interested in.

At the moment, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology are my favorite courses. Learning how the body can malfunction is SO fascinating. It's like being in a House episode, just without a drug-addicted doctors and countless innuendos. Maybe because it's a stark difference from my nursing classes? Probably. I wonder what it would be like to just get my BSc (science degree) and work toward med school. Sans nursing classes.

Although I do feel frustrated at times, I would not trade Nursing for anything. The entire experience, at the end of the day, develops a balanced approach to patient care that is invaluable - I got a taste of that last year. It's just that getting there can seem painfully tedious at times. Who knows what I'll get into following my degree, but in the mean time: I'm committed right through to the end.

Happy Thursday!

D.

BP, oh my.

Second year nursing students weren't kidding when they said the workload was huge. Last night I already had to take a 10 minute breather to just relax and fight off the overwhelming feeling of never ending work. Hopefully it has to do with getting back into the routine of things too. It's not easy getting back into study mode after a lazy Christmas break!

On the bright side, lab - a class to learn and practice hands-on nursing skills - was great this morning. We did a review of skills from last semester, which included basic - but important! - procedures like blood pressure, temperature, etc. Finding BP manually is a finicky thing to get right. I'm sure it's a breeze for experienced nurses, but at 8 in the morning, it's a stinker. After a few attempts, however, I think I did just fine. Automatic BP, on the other hand, is a laugh. The hardest thing is wheeling the machine over and cuffing it to the patient. After that, all you really need to is press GO. I know - 4 years of school so I can press GO on a machine? Really.

Here's something cool I discovered: Last semester, in lab, my BP was 125/90-ish, more or less normal. My pulse, on the other hand, was 90-95. Significantly high for just sitting on a bed!! Today in lab, my BP was 110/60 (almost low!) and pulse was 70 (great!). I was astonished at the difference! Turns out, my new-found running routine has shifted my vitals significantly in a matter of weeks. Apparently, cardiovascular activity has almost instantaneous effects on heart health. Similarly, no activity can have almost immediate detrimental effects. I have always known that exercise was beneficial, but to see positive changes so quickly is something else. Although I mentally feel great from exercising, seeing the results in a physiological sense was really encouraging.

Although winter has only just begun, I'm already looking forward to summer. Not for the heat or sunshine (which I could definitely live without), but because I may be able to work as a camp nurse at Nakamun. Nothing has been set out or arranged, but the prospect is very exciting. Hopefully I can post an update soon!

Otherwise, I'm soaking up this lucky 30 minute break between classes. On a typical Thursday, my days run from 8 to 330 with back to back classes. Thankfully, lab was done a tad early so I now have a chance to chow down some grub and blog before tackling the rest of the day.

Happy Tuesday!
D.

classes and residence.

My schedule is just messed this semester. In two days, I've been to every class. Because I have no classes on Fridays, my M/W and T/R are the same, meaning that those days are CRAMMED with classes. Last week were just went over the outline and introductory lecture, but I have 200+ pages of reading already. I'm not complaining, but I can predict busy weekends in the future, especially when the presentations and essays begin to roll.

As nice as it is to be back in the city, I do miss a few things. One of them being HGTV, a channel I only get when I am home. Man alive - all Christmas break I'd just sit in front of the TV and watch for hours. Especially For Rent (all about renting and renovating apartments), seeing how I doubt I'll be renovating a villa in Belize anytime soon. I really wish I could hire someone to help me find an apartment, then decorate it gloriously. Wouldn't that be lovely? Oh man... I can dream.

Residence is just fine, but getting a tad old. Listening to loud foreign neighbors and riding elevators with drunks is only so entertaining. But on the flip side, my roommates are simply the best so living here is certainly not a hardship. I'm planning for an apartment in the future - hopefully sooner than later. But there's still a lot to get through before that, so for now I will just stick to my HGTV obsession.

Happy Sunday!

D.

happy new year!

Happy 2011!

Another year is here! Christmas went by quickly, but I'm excited for year 2 to begin.

Classes begin tomorrow, so I went to buy my textbooks, get my bus pass, etc. today. Here's what I came home with, $700 later....

Holy moses. I don't think it damaged my bank account as much as it hurt my arms, lugging these suckers back to residence. Just kidding - it damaged everything with equal force.

I'm fortunate to have a dandy schedule this time - only two 8am starts! And if that wasn't great enough, somehow I ended up with no classes on Fridays. Heck yes!!

So now, all that's left to do is wait patiently for classes to begin...

D.