Comment on being seriously disturbed.....

So I haven't been as into movies as I once was, which is no big deal. And by movies, I mean romance movies, some comedies, whatever. Mostly because they aren't real life, and content can be questionable. I've been enjoying more of the blockbuster movies like Ocean's 13 and Bourne Ultimatum-those aren't real either but I can't feel sad about my lack of romance in my life as I'm watching Matt Damon hurdle rooftops in a single bound.


So I try to be more cautious about the movies I see, although sometimes I can be caught off guard, like when I went and saw Fool's Gold which was disturbing in an "I can't believe I spent money on this" kind of way. Which brings me to the most recent movie I saw in the theater which nobody warned me about:


You may be surprised that I would list 'The Other Boleyn Girl' under something I was seriously disturbed about, but I was. I mean I knew what the basic premise of the book was, I had read Shannon's review under her Movie Mavens blog and I thought ok, I'll probably see it eventually. When I came up to Pocatello my sister wanted to see it and so I thought hey, why not. So we went.

I did get into the movie, and I was really enjoying it, as was my sister-who loved the book. We were equally horrified at the audacity of the men in the movie basically whoring out the boleyn sisters (the uncle was especially terrible) for the betterment of the family's social status, and Anne's treatment of her sister-and we made several comments throughout. I was thinking that I really should read the book because it was all quite fascinating-until near the end of the movie-when Anne full-on wants to have sex with her BROTHER, which Jenna informed me actually did happen in the book and possibly happened in real life because Anne produced a deformed child-but anyway I just looked at my sister with this horrified look on my face and told her that I needed to go home and watch a disney movie (it was close, we watched Arrested Development and Biggest Loser). We were going to stop off at the mall so I could get a temple dress on the way home but I didn't feel like that was appropriate after being so disturbed about the idea of incest. I mean seriously-I could have used a little warning team. In fact if anyone goes and sees any movie I would appreciate a heads up. On everything. And needless to say I won't be reading the book anytime soon, or ever. I mean seriously. In fact I came home and went back to reading a safe book, Harry Potter. Much better.....

Comments on Diet Coke and Ambien...

So as I mentioned in a previous post I was scheduled to work this last week for 4 shifts in a row, had a day off, and then worked one more day. My schedule went like this: Tues day, Wed night, Thurs night, Friday night, Sunday day. Yes, I worked on Easter-I don't ever work on Sunday days except Easter and Christmas, no big deal. But I made it through, thanks to my good friends, Diet Coke and Ambien.

When I started nursing school I went off the caffeine because let's be honest, it's probably not that good for you, and I don't run as well when I drink it as I do when well, I don't drink it. So I quit. Then in my senior year with all the driving to SLC and such, I had to get off the wagon-plus I had a preceptor in leadership who told me you can't get through nursing without it-I think she's right :o).

Diet Coke (preferrably cherry, with limes, or even a diet dr. pepper) is something I crave when I walk into the hospital-seriously. I try to hold off and wait and get one at lunch, but on the day shift I'll make a diet coke run before 10 just to have energy to make it through the day. And I must say, there's nothing like a diet coke, in a styrofoam cup, with the little balls of ice (aka balls of fun for your mouth). I mean seriously-I'm craving one right now. On night shifts I find it's also best to nip the tiredness in the bud and get the D.C. before midnight so it's long-lasting energizing action can begin working early and last through 7am, hopefully preventing falling asleep at the wheel on the ride home. In all honesty I do try to keep the caffeine drinking for work only, but that doesn't always happen......

Ambien is a night shift nurse's best friend. I tried not to use it, but the Tylenol PM's stopped working. I switched over to Unisom, which actually gave me a good 8-9 hours of sleep (something I never ever get) but I'd still feel fuzzy when I got to work-which is weird. So I tried the Ambien-and oh sweet heaven.

It's not something I'm addicted to thank goodness. I only use it if I'm in the middle of a 2-3 day night shift run. In fact, I got my prescription in the middle of December and still haven't had to refill it yet. But it's so great-totally puts me to sleep despite the fact that it's daylight outside, doesn't give me psycho dreams (although tylenol PM sure did), I'll sleep my usual 5-6 hours, and be able to go running before I go into work that night, which is why I work more nights-I'm all about the running, and let's be honest, it's practically impossible to get in a decent run after working 12 hours.

And so life as a nurse will continue, all thanks to Diet Coke and Ambien.......

Comments on a year ago....

So last night I was reading New Moon (I read the first few chapters, skip to the last few chapters, and then go back to where I left off in the beginning and read the middle-if I don't read it like this I find this book heart-achingly sad, but reading it this way it's my favorite), when I happened to glance at my bookmark which is the receipt from when i purchased the book-and I noted that the date was March 17, 2007. That would be a year ago today team-so that started me on reflecting....

Last year at this time, this exact day in fact, I had just finished up my spring break from ISU, which I spent down here in SLC doing 4 (12-hour) clinical days in a row at Primary Children's. It was draining. On my last day-March 16th-I had to stop at Apollo Burger for the celebratory hamburger for myself and Steff on my way to Steff's (she was living with Andra at the time-my how things have changed). Anyway on the 17th Lisa and Steff and I embarked on our 2nd apartment hunting trip, Pinnacle Reserve was the 1st one we looked at for the day and ended up being our choice (thanks to Mary the nice office person). Then we went and did a little shopping which is where I purchased Twilight and New Moon. The next day was a Sunday and I drove back to Idaho, did laundry, worked Monday and then drove back down to SLC that night so that I could finish up my last 6 hours at Primary's. I also went over and signed up for Pinnacle, and stopped off at Lisa's work (Stampin' Up!) to get a check from her I think-I can't remember. And I picked up another celebratory hamburger for the ride home.

Thinking about this had me thinking about how much I love my job-not that I didn't think I would love it, but it's amazing how much I've learned and how I'm getting more comfortable in the unit. I love the people I work with (except for the few who don't like to talk to new people-there's a saying that nurses eat their young-only some do but they need to stop), and I love that I was completely freaked out when I was a student at Primary's-some of the stuff I've had to do would have made me run away screaming- and now I'm like huh, my child might be trying to die on me, no big deal-let's just take care of that right now-pull out the bag and mask, call the RT, it's fine, life saved. Maybe we should get some labs, I'd like a chest x-ray-it's all good. I'm totally a nurse.

Anyway my point is simply this-my life is completely different than it was a year ago and I think that's pretty sweet. I like seeing life evolve-I guess it's kind of what it's all about, right?

And just a little P.S.-I have added the music playlist because I think everyone needs a little Blue October in their lives, if you guys find this too annoying let me know-although this is here mostly for me to listen to as I blog. I could open up itunes and just listen to it that way but that's too hard :o).....