Turkey Day & the flu

Luckily Thanksgiving and the flu did not fall on the same day... I was lucky enough to get the flu on Saturday after we were home from our awesome trip down to Saint George! 

It was warm. Very warm :). I think I need a winter house in Saint George.

We had an amazing few days of delicious food, hanging out with family, and four-wheeling at the sand dunes! It was so nice to get out of Provo.... and Brian's aunts, uncles, and cousins are so much fun! We drove down on Thursday morning (after we got up at five) with Rebecca and Chris, got there pretty early and started peeling potatoes (we weighed them after they were all mashed and we had 35 pounds of mashed potatoes in one pot and about the same in another. Ca-razy.). Rebecca and I made the yams and everyone else helped with the rest! It was super yummy and there were about 40 people there! We played soccer, kickball, football, and had some good chats. 

We were planning on camping out in the backyard because of the large volume of people... but once we got there they let us know that we'd be staying in the neighbor's guest house... which was super nice! I was a little sad that I didn't get to camp, but relieved that I wouldn't freeze my buns off. Added bonus: the neighbors had a giant dog named George and he was SO cute and friendly! I miss my dog :/

Chris & Rebecca

Isn't this thing sweet? It's a "RZR". The kids complained of bonking their heads too much when they caught air though....

Grandpa Buzz!

Yep, I got awesome red goggles :)

check out the dirt on my collar! We were soooo dirty after.

Back to the real world on Friday evening I got down to working on my 20 page research paper about proper bottle-feeding techniques. Saturday we prostituted our plasma and then Saturday night... dun dun duunnnnnnnnnnn.... I got struck with the flu. Ew.

And guess what...

I still have it! It has now turned into a violent cold flu thing, but man oh man I'm ready to feel better. Nothing like a flu to make you want to lay in bed all day long and watch Gilmore Girls (which I have - thanks mom for letting me borrow your season). I have also watched Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Walk the Line (which I did not like), the Italian Job, and plenty of YouTube videos. 

Oh, and somehow I finished my paper! Yaaay!

Brian has been an excellent help - always there to fluff my pillow, feed me some soup, grab some medicine, set up movies, and make me laugh. That's all you need when you're sick! I think I'm finally on the mend, however. I just need to make sure I'm completely better before Tuesday so I can go and do my last shift as a student nurse at clinicals! Ay carumba!

Who wants to hear what the nurse manager wrote me in her email? ... I wrote her to ask her "how hard" she thought I should look for another job as a back up. You know, feeling out the situation. 

Jeanne,

This is Rachael Pearce, the Capstone student currently working with Becca Derouin in your unit. I just wanted to say thank you so much for receiving my resume and discussing possible future employment with me! I have had an excellent experience in the NICU and have learned so much. I am actually sad to see the semester come to an end next week but I am so excited at the prospect of becoming part of the NICU team. I feel that I can be a great asset to an already exceptional staff. I graduate at the beginning of December and plan to take the NCLEX as soon as possible (end of January or early February). What will be the best way to keep in contact with you between now and when I pass my boards? I have a portfolio containing information about my project and certifications and am planning on bringing it on Friday for your review.

Because I know nothing is for certain, I was wondering what your advice is on applying for positions elsewhere. Should I spend a lot of time and energy doing that or do you feel that I have a great chance at getting a job with your staff? I plan to apply to at least a few other hospitals for the experience, but I know the place I want to work is at University Hospital.  

I look forward to seeing you sometime soon! Thank you again,

Rachael Pearce

rachael.l.nielsen@gmail.com

This is what she wrote back:

Jeanne Thornton	Nov 30 (3 days ago)
to me

Rachel:

You can keep in touch with me through this email.  That will be the best.  We plan to post positions the first part of January, and I will definitely put you on the list.  You will need to go through the interview process with me and the staff, but your chances are very,  very high as I have already had such great recommendations from the staff regarding your performance.  I will contact you the minute we put the jobs on the board.  You can apply even if you haven’t taken boards, as we will look to hire everyone together.  We mostly hire new grads, so you may all be in the same boat.  I think we will look to hire about 4 new RNs.  I will be here in the morning on Friday, so make sure I see you that morning.  I’m only here until about 11:00 that day.  I would never discourage you from making other applications as you never know maybe your dream job is elsewhere and you just don’t know it.  It is good experience to go through the process.  Thanks for your interest in our unit.  It is a great place to work. JT

Jeanne Thornton, RN, BSN

Nurse Manager

Newborn Intensive Care Unit

University of Utah Hospital

Cha-ching!

So, as you can see, it is not for certain, but my chances are "very, very high." Oh yeah! Just gott make sure I don't screw anything up to ruin those chances!

Brian and I took a field trip to Salt Lake and got me all registered for the NCLEX and my Nursing RN license (don't worry, just $300 - aaaah! I better pass it the first time!). We were going to go to the temple but it was CLOSED. So sad. So we took pictures with the animals instead :)

Ok, things I still need to blog about (this is a reminder to myself!)

1. 11.11.11 date
2. the Help
3. Amanda taking our blood!
4. Holiday plans

Well, it's back to homework! Hope everyone is doing grrreat :)

my poor body

It's just been one of those weeks! It has been a great week, but difficult with some (literal) bumps and bruises along the way. I got to work Tuesday & Wednesday at the hospital (15 hrs each day) and loved it! My nurse had to go help another nurse for a few hours and I got to run the show on our two little babes - one was 3 pounds and the other was 1.5 pounds. TINY little guys that are just so cute! They smile, they have personalities, they have preferences and can be very demanding. I just love them! I am definitely going to apply for a job on that unit and then also on other NICU units at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and Timpanogos Regional Medical Center (both of which have good NICUs). As much as I love adults, I think I get more satisfaction out of helping the little ones. I actually look forward to going! I learn something new every day and absolutely love the nurse I usually work with. She is an inspiration!

So... rewind to Monday. Being dirt-poor newlyweds, Brian and I have taken up prostitution. Prostitution of our plasma that is ;). Yep, we are selling our plasma to get some extra money. It's a great deal, actually. For an hour of sitting there with a needle in your arm, you get $25-$30... and you can do it twice a week... so together we could make $110/week if we were diligent enough (and brave enough - those needles are freaking gigantic). So, that's how it's supposed to go - you go in, wait for your turn, have a short physical, get hooked up to a machine, and voila... they give you your cash as you walk out the door. Supposed to. It didn't work out that way for me on Monday.

Two arms, two ginormous needles, two technicians fishing around (in and out, swirling around, stabbing...) in my arms, two blowed veins, and some very nice bruises. It was not pleasant and they didn't get any plasma out of me. But, I still got my money and left with ice-packs and instructions to drink more water. I had to go to the store afterwards and wonder what people thought as I walked around with a giant ice-pack strapped to one elbow (they couldn't put the packs on both because I had to have some movement in an arm so I could drive home)!  Good times.

Now for mishap of the week #2. Yesterday.

On Thursdays Brian drops me off at school at 7:45 and then he goes home to get ready and rides his bike to be to class at 9. We get out at the same time and he lets me ride on his handlebars all the way home. It's super fun and we've never had problems before. 

Until yesterday.

We were on our street, took a turn, the bike couldn't handle the weight shift and the already loose handlebars twisted weird and... we were falling. You know that slow motion feeling? Definitely had it. In essence, I tried to jump off the front but Brian flew over the handlebars on top of me and my face had a nice date with the sidewalk. I turned it as far as I could and luckily only my left cheekbone made contact.  After some serious icing, a nap, and lots of ibuprofen, I felt much better.

Brian felt so bad. We both felt bad for not wearing helmets and already have plans to go buy some on Monday. But, I am doing better, no concussion, just a nice raspberry on the side of my face (and it doesn't look too bad!) My primary kids are going to think I'm so hard core haha.

ew

So, sometimes you just get weeks like that... when the accident proneness I have been suppressing for so long decides to come out of hiding. 

Moral of the story. Wear a helmet! Helmet hair is better than cement-induced raspberry face.

I don't like food...

...poisoning

I hope you didn't think for even one second that I don't like food. Food poisoning on the other hand is my nemesis! It ruins perfectly great days! Yesterday's culprit: chips and salsa. To my knowledge, this has only happened to me one other time during my existence. That time I had fair warning because when I opened my jar of new salsa, it was bubbling and didn't smell quite right. Unfortunately I was having a HUGE craving for salsa so I ate it anyway much to my later regret. This time I had no such warnings. But I know it was the salsa because other people ate everything else I ate yesterday and had zero problems.

So, instead of going to our awesome end-of-the-year nursing slumber party, I was home slumbering with my barf bowl :(. Maybe this is way too much information for you guys... or maybe you are grateful for a relief from all of the wedding posts haha. Anyway, good news is that I am feeling better and that I am going to go and rock some finals studying! Yeah!

It will be a while before I can eat this again...