Momentary lapse in sanity... :)

{I got the comic from http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/muckit/cartoonweek65.jpg}

Ok...to those of you who read my last two posts {that I deleted}, I wanted to let you know that I am doing fine. I think I was just having a mini-meltdown or going through a midlife crisis. Who knows really?

Up to that point, I had been under a lot of stress and letting things get to me more than they should. Have any of you ever gotten to a point in your life where you wondered how in the world you got to where you are and not sure you're happy with where you're at? I think that's where I was with so many different things. My relationship, the fact that I'm 35 and back in school, I'm not married by now, I want more children {but, now is not a good time}, I just want to be in my career, I'm tired of worrying about money {but, who isn't?}, I'm not 100% happy with my job {but, at least I have a job}...etc, etc, etc.

But, I took a vacation this past week for some much needed relaxation. Though, I haven't really relaxed too much, but at least I didn't have to work this week with my final, Chris having strep throat, my computer crashing and me spending 3 days working on that, blah blah blah... {It may not sound like a lot, but it has definitely kept me busy}

I do have to say that I've been praying and thinking about things and in the end, I always come back to the same thing...I don't have it bad at all. It could be a lot worse, I could not have any of this to worry about, I could not have a home, I could not have a job, I could not have family & friends, I could not have the opportunity to better myself by going to school, I could live in a third world country with no home, no food, etc. I think sometimes, we just get to a place where we let things bother us too much or we take too much on and don't take enough time for ourselves. And, I think that's where I was. But, I know that I am blessed and have a lot to be thankful for. And, that I need to get rid of those things in my life that are bringing me down and to those who don't want to give me the time of day...that's fine, because I have plenty of friends and family and to let one person bring me down is just dumb.

So, anyway...now that I've babbled on and on {as I usually do :)}, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm ok. And, thanks to those who've shown concern! I do appreciate it. And, I'm sorry I haven't been around too much. I feel like I just get busier and busier these days, which isn't necessarily a bad thing...it just doesn't leave me much time for blogging. {And, they blocked the blogs at work!! Hmph...how dare they! :)} But, I will try to get around because I do miss reading about all of your lives!!

"The Climb"

Have many of you heard "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus? I'm not a huge Miley fan, but when I first heard this song a couple of months ago, I instantly loved this song. This song reminds me that it's all the little stuff and how you get to where you want to go that's important. This song embodies how I feel about my dreams and, really, just life. Here are the lyrics:

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

I LOVE THIS SONG!!

Reunion & Concussion

So, this past weekend, I went to a reunion (really, just a gathering of old high school friends).

There was a group of us that used to hang out together in high school and I hadn't seen any of them since our official 5 year reunion. That was 12 years ago, I think! :)

When I got there, they had already started the party since I had to work until 7:30pm. I was a little nervous about going. Not sure why...but, when I got there, it was like no time had passed at all. We sat around just talking for a while and catching up.

But, as the evening went on, we decided to play spoons. I don't know how many of you know what that game is. I hadn't played it since I was in grade school at camp. Well, this wasn't your typical game of spoons...Apparently...it's a contact sport now. People are flying across and down tables to make sure they get a spoon and none of them were shy about trying to come after you to get your spoon! That's how I ended up with a concussion!! One person flew down the table towards me and the top of his head hit me on my forehead above my right eye. Oh man!! It literally knocked my "lights" out. I saw a flash of light and was definitely dazed for about 30 seconds. I didn't really think much about it, I had a headache, of course...but, didn't think I had a concussion.

Well, about three hours later, I'm standing there talking to one of my friends, and I suddenly got so tired, I felt like I couldn't stand there. I got extremely nauseated, broke out in a sweat, and felt a tingling, burning sensation running down my face.

So, as I'm standing there, I don't think my friend realizes how I'm feeling. After about 10 minutes of trying to sustain our conversation, I had to leave. I'm sort of freaking out a little at this point because I've never experienced anything like that before. The burning, tingling sensation down my face is what made me think I maybe should go to the hospital!

Now, for those of you who don't know, I work at a hospital in the ICU. So, I see the worst of things a lot of times. I've seen a good number of subdural hematomas in our unit who didn't know they had a head bleed and they didn't make it. So, I'm thinking...what if I have a head bleed! I'm struggling with whether or not I should go to the ER.

So, I call our charge nurse in my unit and asking her if she thinks I should go to the hospital. And, of course, she says she thinks I should..but can't say for sure.

I drive home and I immediately get on the internet and search my symptoms. Based on what I read, I determined that I had a concussion and I didn't need to go to the ER. But, I was still worried about it. Because, how many people think they'll be ok and then are not? So, I thought...I have to go to work in a few hours, I'll just get checked out when I get to the hospital. Well, I didn't. But, the nurses I talked to said I probably did just have a concussion, but next time, I HAD BETTER GO GET CHECKED OUT!! LOL

I had a headache and was naseaous for a few days, but I'm ok now.

Despite the concussion, I had a GREAT time catching up with old friends and just having a good time. I can't wait to do it again.

So, the point to my story is...ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET WHEN PLAYING SPOONS OR IT MIGHT RESULT IN A CONCUSSION!!

For those of you who don't know what SPOONS is, I've copied the instructions below:

Spoons Card Game

Few cards serve up the kind of excitement that are part of every game of Spoons.

WHAT YOU NEED:
	Deck of cards
	Spoons (one less than # of players)

HOW TO PLAY:
1. The object is to collect four cards of one kind (four twos, four kings and so on) and not to be the person left without a spoon. To begin, place the spoons (one fewer than the number of players) in the center of the table within grabbing reach of all players. Each player is dealt four cards. The dealer keeps the deck.

2. The dealer picks a card from the deck and then discards one card from his hand, sliding it facedown to the player to his left. That player takes it, then picks one card from his hand and passes it to his left.

3. Each player in turn does the same, as quickly as possible. Each person should have four cards in his hand at all times. The player to the right of the dealer places discarded cards in a pile to his left to be used by the dealer when the original deck is used up.

4. Play continues until one player has four of a kind, at which time he takes a spoon from the pile. He may steal the spoon surreptitiously, continuing to pass cards until someone else notices. Or he may grab his spoon, creating a mad rush for spoons at the table.

5. The player left without a spoon has lost the round. If you like to keep score, that player is given an S. As players spell S-P-O-O-N-S, they are out. The player left at the end is the winner.

4 WEEKS!! Really?

Wow...I didn't realize it had been 4weeks since I've blogged! How dare I? lol

Well, I've been super busy with working, school, planning baby & wedding showers at work, planning going away parties, and of course, going to said parties. (Though, most of them were at work!) I'll be posting about those soon (I hope!)

I'll be starting my summer class this coming Wednesday. I'll have that two days/wk. I've already started reading so I don't get behind. I'm a little worried b/c it's accelarated b/c it's a summer class. But, I'm sure I'll be fine.

May has just been a super busy month. We had Mother's Day, my dad's bday, Meagan's bday is this coming Saturday. Meagan's had a dance performance, a skit squad performance and her 8th grade graduation will be this Friday. So, like I said, between family stuff, holidays, work and life...it's just been super busy.

Plus, I've kind of gotten addicted to Facebook! It's like, as soon as I get home, I gotta get on to see what my friends have been up to. I love it because I work 2nd shift and most of my friends and family work a normal day shift job. So, this is how I get to keep up with all of them. Not to mention, I've reconnected with a lot of high school friends through Facebook. A bunch of us actually just met up for our own little reunion this past Saturday. It was a good time. I'll be posting about that too and my concusion that resulted. (Don't worry, I'm fine!)

Well, I hope all of you had a GREAT holiday weekend and remembered our loved ones overseas. Have a MARVELOUS week!

Rock of Love

Ok...I've never been a Brett Michael's fan. I have a lot of friends who just thought he was sooooo hot and loved him. I liked Poison, but wasn't so hot and bothered by Brett Michaels.

So, I'm sure you have seen or heard about his shows, "Rock of Love".

First let me say that I probably wouldn't watch this show if it wasn't for my boyfriend. For some reason (probably the half naked women), he likes this show. He likes the drama of the girls fighting, etc. I, on the other hand, am not a fan. I don't like all of the fighting and bickering. The lying and backstabbing.

But, I watch it anyway.

Can I just say that Brett Michaels is SUCH A HUGE PIG!!!! Every time I watch this show, I am more disgusted by him and the girls that fawn all over him and fall for what he says to them.

The season finale of the 3rd Rock of Love was on last week. So, to the girl Brett doesn't pick, he tells her why he doesn't pick her, but then says, "Come here and let me hold you because you're beautiful." Are you freaking serious?!?! If someone that just broke up with me said that to me, I think I would slap him. I don't care if you're Matthew McConnehy (who I think is soooo hot by the way!!)

I mean, he just says the most sexist, piggish things. I swear, I yell at the tv everytime I'm watching it. Chris thinks it's hysterical. I think he likes to watch it with me so he can laugh at all of my commentary (which he does)!

And, then at the reunion last night...the girl he dumped is called up to the stage and they engage in a very long, heated kiss. Seriously!! You're with another girl. I don't care if you're Brett Michaels of Poison...can you please be respectful?!?!?!

So, I think Brett Michaels is a sexist pig, jerk, a**hole, and any other names I can think of!! I just wanted to get that out. Thanks for indulding!! :)

Stanky Leg

Ok...I was just introduced to this song a couple of days ago, courtesy of Ally in Wonderland.

I was at Ally's blog and she had a reference and link to this song. So, of course, the name had my attention and I immediately went there to hear this song.

This song SOOO cracks me up. So, I'm thinking that really this dance has been around...but, it just wasn't given a name or concentrated on.

So, to those of you who haven't heard the song...here it is.

You should have seen my and my boyfriend up doing the Stanky Leg. It's a good time!!

I say, let's declare this..."Do the Stanky Leg Day"

Come on now...you know you wanna!!

Update on Nursing School

Ok..to those of you wondering about my journey towards nursing school...

I was yet again put on the waiting list. Needless to say, I was a little upset about that. I'm ready to get on with it and get into my career.

So, I was mad for like a day. But, then I realized that everything happens for a reason and maybe it's just not time for me yet and I should quit trying to rush things!!

I went in to talk to the counselor to find out why I was put on the waiting list again this year. I was told that since I had gotten "C"s in Chemistry and Biology in high school, I didn't meet their requirements to get in. However, I could re-take these classes online through someone they are affiliated with at $350/class. (I sort of think they have an agreement with this person that they would say that "C"s are not acceptable. Hello...that's average!)

It's funny how different colleges have different requirements. Because at the college I'm attending now, they accepted those grades (also considering they were 17 years ago!) and I'm now taking Anatomy & Physiology with a "B", almost and "A" in the class. Anyway...

So, I've decided to just stay with the college I'm attending now. It's too late to get into the nursing program for this fall. So, I'm either going to apply for the Spring semester or wait until Fall '10.

My sister has decided that she wants to go to nursing school now. So, if she can catch up with the gen ed classes by Fall '10, I'll wait until then. It would be nice to have someone there with me that I know and that I can study with.

So, that's the 411 on my progress with nursing school.

Everything happens for a reason. And, I'm thinking I should have always stuck with my current college since it's much less expensive than the school I applied to. It just would have been good for me to get into the school I applied to because I would have gotten done sooner...that is if I had gotten in!

Baby Got Back & Burger King?

Has anyone seen the new commercial for Burger King?

It's like a music video promoting BK kid's meal.

I have to say that I am a fan of Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back". I used to dance to it all the time in the clubs. And, well, I still dance around to it at home and rap it to my friend's and family's dismay! haha

However, I do not think that it's appropriate to promote kid's meals with that song.

They are promoting a Sponge Bob Square Pants toy in every kid's meal.

I'll put the video on here for you to see if you haven't seen it yet.

Anyway...I just wanted to voice my opinion of it. Like I said, I am a fan, but not when you put this song to a video of women, appearing to have square butts and shakin' their booties promoting something for children. And, at the end of it, you have Sir Mix-A-Lot saying a butt's a butt.

I don't know...maybe it's just me...but, I didn't like it.

Gambling can be addictive

So, today a few of us from work decided to go to the casino and waste our money. Of course, we were really hoping to win. I did not win. I was ahead at one point and thought long and hard about quitting. But, of course, I didn't!

I was like...if I quit, what will I do? Go home. That's what I should have done.

I was nauseous while I was there and the whole way home. But, that could have also been due to the cigarette smoke! I'm still a little nauseous.

So, I'm thinking that maybe gambling isn't for me! I could never take more money than I did today. I was so distraught over losing $100. I can't imagine taking more than that and losing more than that! I would have to go into therapy! haha

So, needless to say, I wasn't there very long. A few hours. One of my co-workers was winning when I left. I think she was up like $1,000. I was like...how in the world are you doing that?!?! Give me some of your luck. I tried sitting next to her and wasted another $20 (that was included in the $100).

I had a good time hanging out with friends. But, losing the money and feeling very sick is not my idea of a good time! Chris said that we should not play the slots and stick to playing the dealer at poker. If I go back...I'll be taking his advice for sure! (Those slot machines are rigged fo sho!)

Time keeps on slippin', slippin' into the future

Ok...I know...cheesy title...but, I was thinking about how time just gets away from me and that song popped into my head! :)

It's amazing how fast the days seem to go by anymore. Especially when you're busy with so much to do. As I'm writing that, I can't help but think if there's anyway to slow time down? Why when you get older does it just seem to go by so quickly? I can definitely understand how my dad felt when he was my age. He used to always say, "the older you get, the faster it goes". So, I'm hoping that as he's gotten older from my age to now that it hasn't increased in speed anymore! :)

Sometimes I don't mind it. But right now, I'm not liking it.

I was just looking at my class syllabus for each of my classes and just realized that I only have three more weeks of classes for this semester. It seems like I've just started the semester. It's good on one hand in that it's moving along in the sense that I'm hopefully getting closer to my goal of becoming a nurse. But, it's bad in the sense that it seems it's going so fast and I just don't have enough time to study the way I want to study (or try to study).

I took another Anatomy & Physiology (A&P) test today. Not sure how I did. I feel like I at least passed and did a lot better than my last test (which we won't talk about. ha). But, there's just SOOOO much information and I don't feel like I'm really learning it all! So, I'll have one more test for A&P that I really have to do well on to at least maintain my "B". I would really like to get an "A" in this class, so if I Ace the rest of my work, it's doable!! But, that means I need to spend A LOT more time studying this last three weeks!

So, I don't really have a point to all of my rambling on except that time seems to be moving so fast these days and I'd like to slow it down some... And, I need to study more! And, I need to get moving on my Christmas presents for this year. And, I need to keep my home clean. And, I need to get ready for a yard sale. And, I need to work. And, I need to spend time with my family and friends. And then... (of course those are not in any particular order!)

So, what keeps you busy...do you need to slow life down? Do tell...