Totally FABULOUS!!

Tonight we went to a charity event for the Police and Fire Bevevolent Association... they had open bar, dinner and *wait for it* the Chicago cast of The Jersey Boys!!!!!!!! I have been looking forward to this day ever since I found out about it. I was PSYCHED! What a fabulous performance... and then my dad was able to get me, my sister and my neighbor's backstage and we got a photo with them!! I also took a napkin and got their autograph. I want to marry Micheal Cunio though. Holy #%^# he's adorable!! I thought he was striking in the actual show when we saw it last summer too. He's just a cutie! (On the far right... purple shirt). <3

Meanwhile, there's this police officer that just moved here from Boston about a year and a half ago. I met him in the summer when we do our festival in town. He was on duty so he had just happened to come over to the tent I was standing at alongside my dad. I don't know what it is about him but I haven't stopped thinking about him ever since I met him. Of course I'm painfully shy when it comes to this business and will not "make a move" but dammit, I kind of wish he would! LOL Though he has no way of knowing I kinda like him... I did see him there tonight but not until I was leaving and he didn't see me. He's just the cutest thing. He took a job in the Secret Service so apparently he's going to Atlanta to train and then is moving back to Chicago... so who knows? :) If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. There's gotta be some reason I've thought about him for 6 months. 

P.S. Nothin' like a wake up call looking at photos of yourself to think 'EW! Must get back to working out!' UGH!

My Ongoing Bucket List

In no particular order:

1. Learn how to dance especially the waltz (so I can do it at my wedding!).

2. Travel to Hawaii

3. Travel to Ireland

4. Go back to Germany

5. Go back to Italy

6. Run a marathon

7. Sing the National Anthem at a Cubs game (Ok I say this but I'd DIE if I ever got the chance LOL)

8. Take a hot air balloon ride.

9. Go on a cruise

10. Go to Alaska, California, Canada,

11. Go whitewater rafting

12. See The Grand Canyon

13. Take a photography class

14. Take a cooking class

15. Get married

16. Have children

17. Become a nurse

18. Finally lose all of the weight I want to lose

19. Wear a size 8 (or smaller!)

20. Go parasailing

Ok we'll stop at 20 for now because I can't think of anymore at the moment. :-P

I had my first Patho class today and cannot figure out where my Professor is from.. his accent is a mix of New York/Jersey/Boston and Arnold Schwarzenegger. LOL Very strange.. anyway it wasn't too bad. I dread Tuesday's though... class is from 8a-3pm and then 8a-5p starting in March. That is just way too long to be at school. I updated my planner with things from Patho and started to feel overwhelmed again. Only 15 more weeks until summer.

I am getting stir crazy with this weather. I want to go somewhere and have fun, darn it. :-( Tonight, someone I went to high school with posted photos on FB of her Hawaiian vacation and my GOSH was it absolutely gorgeous. My friend at work just got back from a cruise to the Bahamas and I looked at her photos and fell in love.... my OBGYN for gosh sakes just posted photos on her FB from HER Girl's Cruise... a commercial for Atlantis in the Bahamas came on the TV and then the TV show I was watching had them all going on a cruise!! What the HELL! I wanna go!!!! *cry* 

Meanwhile, we're closer to finding a place to vacation with the girls in June. Amy's boss owns a beautiful condo in a Yacht club that she'll rent to us for $200 total... that's $50 per person TOTAL! I am PSYCHED! That's terrific and will save us a TON of money! The condo is in Cape Coral, FL which is over 9 hours from Atlanta. LOL So it looks like Amy and I will have to make our flight earlier on Wednesday to Atlanta and we'll probably leave after Jen picks us up from the airport and drive halfway to FL... stay in a Holiday Inn somewhere in between ATL and Cape Coral and then continue to drive the rest of the way on Thursday and pick up Cate. We may have to leave ATL on Tuesday then instead of Monday unless we drive straight through on Sunday (which in that case, I may need to get a script for Ambien). :-P It's close to Sanibel Island too which will be so much fun to visit! Honestly, I'm just glad to be going away... it feels like it's so far away but hopefully it'll go by fast. It BETTER or else I'm going to go nuts with all of these paradise vacations everyone else is going on and I'm not!! (LOL Man, do I sound like a spoiled brat or what?!). :)

Oh what a night!

Tonight was the holiday party for Women and Children's Services, given by the Physicians of those units (OBGYN's and Peds). This was my second year going and holy smokes was it better than last year. I threw caution to the wind and let loose on the dance floor and let me tell you, it felt wonderful. Perhaps I'm too tightly wound ;-) I don't know but I absolutely loved it and had the time of my life tonight. I laughed so hard and my throat hurts from laughing/trying to talk over the loud music. LOL

Of course there's always drama to go along with my adventures... my friend was going to do my hair. I wanted it up so it'd be out of my way and it would stay the whole night. Well her image and my image were two different things. She did my hair like a tight bun. All I needed as a tutu and a leotard (perhaps minus 150 lbs) and I'd be set for the American Ballet Academy. Of course I said 'I like it. Thanks!' and went home and freaked 'what am I going to do?!'. So I went to have my hair curled (because it NEVER stays when I do it) and I liked it a lot better. :)

It was a fantastic night with awesome friends. :-) It makes me want to go out dancing more! LOL

I really can't run.. baby it's cold outside!

Ran outside again today. I think I underestimated how cold it was because last time I ran I overdressed and got really hot midway through. Today I just wore my compression tights under my Under Armour pants, thicker Under Armour long sleeve top and a t shirt over that with my winter wool hat. My hands were pretty red about 5 minutes into it and by the time I got home, they were HUGE. LOL Darn interstitial fluid ;-) I power walked a lot of it again :( I wanted to scream from frustration but then decided 'I am doing something... I'm not sitting on the couch, I am running here and there and I'm getting my heart rate up, stop getting frustrated!' Then Ke$ha's Tik Toc came on my Ipod and I almost started dancing as I walked. LOL I don't know WHAT the appeal is to that song.. the lyrics are crazy and it's totally unlike me but it really has a fabulous beat to it. Anyway, my time for 3.1 miles mostly walking was 40 minutes so I'm definitely not standing still. Still wish I could run the whole thing.. or for goodness sakes run 4 miles in 40 minutes like I did a few weeks before Christmas. :( I am a little agitated with the amount of snow that is still on the sidewalks. Now it's all ice and I guess a note to self for next time is 'wear cleats'. I ran on the street most of the time and then almost slipped on a banana peel. Ya just can't win sometimes! ;-)

I studied a lot last night for nursing and am trying to work ahead as much as possible (or at this point, just mainly stay on track with the bajillion pages of reading and actually comprehending the information) and when reading about different people's theories of nursing, one really stuck out to me. In my opinion, it is 100% true and overpowers the rest of them; Benner and Wrubel's Theory is mainly composed of the theory that 'caring is central' and 'caring means that persons, events, projects and things MATTER to people." It's a personal concern and sometimes just knowing somebody cares about you makes you feel so much better, regardless of how your physical abilities may be deteriorating. Look at the studies they've done with animal therapy and just how much a patient may improve (simply just by their attitude or demeanor) by having a dog visit them in the hospital. I've seen it happen when I was a patient sitter in Peds... the look on the patient's face was that of a bright light shining from her smile. Somebody CARED. You're on someone's mind and I can totally relate because that's what I need. I need to know people are going to be there and then actually follow through with it. So many people can say 'If you need something, let me know! I'm here!' and then when you need them, they're not there. It's those that stick by you regardless of what's going on and follow through with that promise. (Totally referring to this post when I write My Philosophy of Nursing paper in a few weeks!) There were roughly 7 theorists that touched on many different aspects of nursing but Benner and Wrubel's Theory really made me say outloud 'Exactly!' Sometimes a hug or a touch on the hand is all someone needs, because you never know if they've never had someone tell them 'Hey, I care' and regardless of how "tough" someone may be, every single one of us needs that sometime or another. :)

My friend said to me the other day "You call me whenever you have some time and we'll just talk when we talk" and I almost freaked out and said "No no NO! Just because I am going to be a bit busier with nursing school does NOT mean 'stop calling' or 'stop acting normal'. LOL I am going to need the calls more than before just to stay sane! I refuse to have nursing school overpower my life and, like I normally do, if I am busy or can't answer, I will always call back when I'm able to talk. I almost wish no one knew I was taking nursing school... that way nothing would change and people wouldn't feel as if they were interrupting me.

NS Day 1

So the verdict? I actually thought 'Huh, this may not be so bad'. I had class today from 8a-11:50a and then the Student Nurse Association held a pizza party/social so us newbies ;-) can get acquainted with the students in their third and fourth semesters as well as students in our classes. I decided to go with some of the girls from my earlier class. We met a few people and then left... I am really going to have to learn to get used to this getting up at 6am thing. I need a nap! Class itself wasn't so bad... the first part was more of an orientation and an explanation of projects, assignments and such. The last part was an overview of nursing itself; basically the content of the three chapters I read last night.

So the whole initial 'not so bad' thought was great until I sat down and started to write out my schedule for the next few months (just until mid-March, which is when my second 8 week class begins as well as my first clinical rotation) and between Pathophysiology and Nursing Fundamentals/Theory, I have an exam every week, rotating between the two classes. I'm trying to think positively and am actually going to start reading for the next class (well, both!) tonight. I'll also start my paper (that's due Feb 12th) on my own Philosophy of Nursing. Thank goodness it's not a research paper, just more my thoughts on what kind of nurse I'm striving to be and what nursing means to me. I got into this 'get 'er done early' thing when I was in Micro last semester and I think that really helped me out tremendouly in succeeding and getting an A. Normally I'm a huge, HUGE procrastinator. I'm thinkin' that's not going to work in this program. At all!

Still trying to have that positive attitude. :) This is going to be a huge test for me, as a person.

Nursing School

....and so it begins.

The Golden Rule

We all know what The Golden Rule is. We learned it early on in grade school, no? I remember back to second grade seeing a poster on the bulletin board every morning that stated The Golden Rule; "treat others the way you want to be treated", right? So then what the hell is wrong with everyone these days? I am not perfect and do not treat people the way I'd like to be treated all of the time but for the most part, I think I am pretty good at it. An example: why is it so gosh darn difficult to wave your hand in 'thanks' when someone lets you through the stop sign when it's not your turn? It's rude not to. This person may not have given you their life or done something extraordinary but it was nice of them and it should be acknowledged. I have soooo much to say about this but I think I'll just leave it at that.

I spent part of my afternoon at Jane's today. We had been trying to set up a time to get together because she wanted to give me my Christmas gift so I stopped by today. She had to run Shannon to a friend's house when I got there so I played with my buddy, Keylan until Aidan got off of the bus at 3:30pm. I had to watch for him to get off of the bus so once it pulled up, I walked outside to watch Aidan cross the street. Once he saw it was me, he ran to me and gave me the biggest hug and said "I've missed you!" It sooo warmed  my heart and man, do I miss him. <3 He went to play Mario Kart with Keylan while Jane and I talked. She looked at my 5K photos and we talked about running, nursing school and life in general. I really am so thankful that this family is in my life. Anytime I need a 'pick me up' I look at photos I've taken with the kids or I'll break out the cards I've saved over the years and go straight to Jane's cards because she always makes me feel so much better. It's not a difficult task... as my 'love language' is affirmations and encouragement. I especially love the way she incorporates God in with many things. I often forget that He is the ultimate go-to person.  In relation to nursing school, I often say 'I wish I could find a psychic that has already experienced the next two years and is able to actually tell me whether or not it WILL be ok" and today when I said that to Jane, realized I do know someone like that... maybe not in the flesh but in my faith and He knows and will help me through this; rain or shine.

Slightly off topic here, I'll be booking my plane tickets to Atlanta probably tomorrow. That makes me super excited and cannot come fast enough! I can't wait to see Jen and Amy, Lilly and Cate! The girls weekends that we have are the best. Hopefully the hotel we'll stay in will be just as great as last time although I am very sad Jenn won't be able to make it. :-( I haven't seen her in 2 years. Hopefully she'll move into a new house soon so I can come and invade for a weekend. :-) 2 years is just way too long.

I think that's enough rant/rave for today!

So warm yet so cold.

I was able to run/walk outside today as it was 30* but unfortunately only went 2.75 miles and only ran about a mile of that. I am really disappointed in myself. I thought that once I was able to run outside again, I'd take off like it was nothing in comparison to the dreaded treadmill. I almost think I might need to restart the program, which to me feels like such a failure. I worked so hard to get where I was and now to have to go back... it just doesn't make me feel good. Maybe it's because I don't really have a goal that I'm working towards. It was more to improve my time (which is a joke at this point) and perhaps begin training for a 10K. At this point, I need to get back to simply running a 5K again.

I got an email through my work account stating we're starting up again with merit raises. We'd been on a pay freeze for one year due to budget but will pick up where we left off.... but now we're all having another review in February. I am really hoping I get another 'exceeds expectation's' as that would qualify me for a 3.25% increase in pay. That would really be nice.

Comfort zone.

I figured it out... I am scared beyond words because this is completely out of my comfort zone. This is big girl stuff... this is working towards an actual career, something I will be doing the rest of my life. I've done many things that have reached a bit out of my comfort zone, probably not what others would consider 'out of a comfort zone' but it certainly was to me. I keep to myself, I don't like to bring attention to myself and you can usually find me just blended in with the crowd. That's the way I like it.

I hate admitting all of this because I feel like I am asking for sympathy or a pat on the back or for goodness sakes, maybe a hug. No, a hug would be grand. Maybe a Kleenex because I just cannot control these tears. I am trying to grasp this logically but my emotions are overpowering me and to be honest, it sucks. This is supposed to be a very exciting time but my emotions have just completely taken over. I just don't want to tear up when thinking of this program or the next 2 years. I know time is going to fly and I know the nursing faculty is trying to scare us to weed out the people that aren't serious about this... the problem is, what about those of us that are serious but may not be smart enough to pass? I feel like I've entered this deep depression, almost mourning.

I need an intervention... or a good smack. No... I think I'll just take the hug. :-(

After writing this post, I happened to look at the horoscope on my phone... now, I don't necessarily believe in horoscopes but they do make me smile or relate to things going on in my life. I found today's fitting and read it through my hyperventilating and overflowing tears:

Monday 01/11/10 
"Imagine you are on an unfamiliar road on a very dark night. Although the sky is pitch black and the stars are hidden among the clouds, you can see a light approaching from very far away. Because you're cold and hungry, you really want to get home quickly. As the light in the distance comes closer and closer, do you fear it or long for it? If your immediate response is fear, you need to examine your ability to ask for help now. Something that seems frightening and insurmountable can be resolved simply by reaching out for help."

I need a tranquilizer. By the end of the week or next weekend, I may seriously have a nervous breakdown. I have already cried at least 3 times today. I am seriously doubting my ability to do this nursing thing. I am trying to take it one day at a time and not take this whole emotional thing too seriously because I am extremely emotional this week but I am already freaking out. I am freaking out over things I already know how to do. We are being tested on pulse, respiration, B/P, hand washing and one other skill they'll draw at random. It's the random skill I am freaked out about. :( I am completely unsure of how to calculate or convert intake and output even though I am positive I am overthinking it all but have messaged 3 of my friends that are either in nursing school or are nurses. I just HATE HATE HATE the unknown. Is it SERIOUSLY Dec 2011 yet? I am already done. I have my second orientation tomorrow for 5 hours where they'll discuss books, uniforms and other things. I think bringing a paper bag to breathe into tomorrow may not be a bad idea. :(

*Disclaimer: this is NOT posted to have people tell me I'm going to be an awesome nurse. At this point, I don't care. I just want to do my best and not look stupid and get THROUGH these next couple of semesters. I don't know why I feel such a tightness in my chest or the fact that I just want to sob... I hope it passes and soon. *cry*

Memorial.

Today was the day of Mr. Green's memorial at my old high school. How nostalgic it was to be back in those halls... even though it has only been 5 years since graduating (well for me that is a long time LOL I feel like it was just yesterday I was waiting in line in the hallway to get my graduation gown and then ran outside for the senior picnic but whatever!). The choir room changed so much and in a way made me really sad that it had. I miss our old choir room... I miss choir. Meanwhile, I had a long hard laugh chuckle when I saw 2005's photos in the hallway! Lord, can we replace photos in those frames? How embarrassing!! We had 3 large frames like this one but I only took a photo of one:

Anyway, I met up with my roommates from Europe. We were known as the "powerhouses of the alto section' by Mr. Green and we basically took over a corner while in our formation for choir. We then passed it on to Amber when we graduated, who was a year behind us. Gosh those were some good times. We met for lunch and reminisced about those fun times and then headed over to Fremd at 2pm to rehearse with other alumni to sing 'The Awakening' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPgspgLNm4E&feature=related) It. was. awesome. It felt so good to sing with choir again.. to have that unity and the song chosen was absolutely perfect for the service. The song was sung at the end of the service and it was fabulous. I really hope someone recorded it because I'd love to have that. Tears were definitely shed as Mr. Green was a WONDERFUL man whose talent can never be replaced. I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to have been taught by this man. And while music may not be a large large part of my life at this time, I will always have a special place in my heart for it and he made that place bigger. I loved seeing everyone again and it's bittersweet we had to meet in such cirumstances. It was interesting... Mr. Green's sister spoke and said something that really struck me and expressed how I feel; relationships are the most important thing. It is why I feel so passionate about my friends. The friendships and relationships I build with people are extremely important to me that I cannot describe it.

The 4 alto powerhouses! In our corner :)

 The Auditorium

                             Warming up

Alumni and current students singing 'The Awakening' at the end of the concert... ending with a standing ovation <3

I'm alive!

So I went to the gym yesterday and ran 3.1 miles but the time was shameful. I started out awesome and felt great but think I might have started out too quick. It just felt good running again. I am really hoping I'll be able to get to the gym in between tomorrow's craziness.... will probably get downstaffed again. *sigh* My average heart rate was 190 and boy could I tell. 

The heart rate could also be the cause of my horrible headache issue I had last night. I was so incredibly dizzy and felt so weak but could feel my heart beating through my chest. I had no caffeine so that wasn't it... possibly didn't eat enough? Ah the struggles. I went to bed around 7:30pm and woke up at 10pm which sucked because then I wasn't tired to go to sleep. This morning I felt much better, thank goodness. I was just glad I actually woke up.. it was that bad. 

We got about 7 inches of snow today and I've decided Amanda and the snow blower are not friends. I was trying to be helpful and shoveled a bit first and then finished with the snow blowing. There is seriously a technique to that... because if you start at the wrong place, you completely ruin the snow removal you've already done by blowing snow on the cleared paths. It's like an art and I've never been good at art. In fact, I suck at art, so it makes sense. LOL I did finish the neighbor's driveway, their sidewalk and ours and then my driveway. It was pretty cold but I wore my new super warm coat and my compression tights under my jeans and thank goodness for those. I was never cold! I actually wore them all day and they kept me nice and toasty. :)

And now for the best news yet... it's supposed to be 33* next week!! PLEASE let it be nice and sunny too so I can run outside... no, I don't care if it's nice and sunny... as long as it's not pouring, I am SO RUNNING OUTSIDE!!! Damn treadmill. Let's just hope the temp prediction doesn't change and get lower. :( I'm really looking forward to the balmy temps! ;-)

I really miss work... I honestly cannot even remember the last time that I worked. I am scheduled tomorrow but as I said earlier, will probably be downstaffed. I was scheduled last Saturday, Sunday and Monday but picked up all 3 days so I was always first to be called off... and since we closed the smaller unit, they rarely (if ever) need 3 techs. So I was LCD'd all weekend. :( I thought I'd be getting some extra money but I guess not. I also took Saturday off because it's my former music teacher's memorial service at my old high school and I really want to be there. Of course it starts at 3pm so I had to take the whole day off. I am excited to see my old choir buddies though that I roomed with in Europe... we had some great times and it'll be fun to catch up over lunch before the service. We'll also get to sing together and I am SO EXCITED to do that... I haven't sung in a choir since leaving Fremd. :( I miss it. A lot. Maybe they'll record it and post it on the FB group.. that would be neat. :)

Sloooow down.

I got an email today from my Patho Professor welcoming us to his class... um excuse me? I have 3 weeks still ( well, 2 until nursing officially starts but I just found out today that Patho doesn't begin until Jan. 25th!) Anyway, I looked at the Blackboard site to glance at the syllabus and what we're going to be doing. Can you say overwhelming? I've never seen so many diseases etc however I noticed a lot of familiar things that I learned in Micro so I am praying that helps me out. The immune system is a tricky tricky system. ;-) I'm a bit peeved at school for not returning my phone call from 2pm today... I need to meet with a nurse at the school's health facility to go over all of my health requirements before I turn in all of my nursing stuff... which is due on Friday!! They better call me in the morning because I want to get it in and be done!

I went to the gym today (like I said I would ;-) ) and it felt pretty good... except I wanted to hit the girl next to me on the treadmill. She was bookin' it at a 9.0 speed and finished over 3.1 miles in 20 minutes. UGH. Where I can't even flippin' run on the damn treadmill. It's like an impossibility to me and I cannot figure out why. I just want it to be 30* outside so I can put on my new compression tights under my workout pants and go. Why is this too much to ask? I thought we were going to have a mild winter?? What happened to that?! Global warming my butt!!

I did the elliptical and the treadmill and then did weights. My main goal, like stated in my previous post, is my arms. Maybe that'll be my focus until I can run outside again... except I am really scared I won't be as good running as I've been in the past because I haven't run much during the winter. :( I PRAY that doesn't happen... I worked way too hard for that to happen. I'm also scared of time management once nursing school begins... although the first half of the semester isn't going to be too bad I don't think. It's just two days a week and no clinical. It's after March that I'm worried about as it becomes 3 days a week with Tuesday being a full 8a-5p day. I just have to work around it because working out and being healthy is important to me and is a priority.

I watched The Bachelor tonight (and probably will Tivo it and watch it the rest of the season because their previews of the rest of the season of course hook line and sinkered me in) and it amazes me how women sell themselves to men. It really disappoints me and kind of discourages me in finding a guy that isn't all about the gaudy, plastic boobs hanging out from a woman's dress, acting like a valley girl and hair twirling all of the time etc. I am not that type of woman. This could be a great thing or I could be alone forever. Now, this isn't a 'woe is me' post. I have said before many times I actually like being single and think I've finally accepted that. I would rather be single and have my self respect than sell myself to a guy that only looks for the outer beauty rather than a balance of both inner and outer. However, it's not just men that dismiss average looking women right away... women do it to men as well and watching this stupid show after The Bachelor proved that... it was ridiculous. Men that are attractive and seem wholesome and nice are looked at as 'nerdy' and are dismissed and replaced by the 'rocker bad ass' guys that will get what they want by sleeping with you and the next morning they're gone and with another girl. I just don't understand it. But, watching all of these shows makes me want to re-join eHarmony again.. too bad it's waaaay to expensive. I hope they have their 3 months for $19.95 again soon because I kind of would like to toy with that again. :)

Tomorrow it's back to the gym.

I know this is just a silly excuse but I have been so crazy these past few weeks I haven't had the time to go to the gym. That's just ONE of the downsides of it being so cold that I have to go to the gym. Had it been warmer out, I could have grabbed my running shoes and headed out rather than get ready to go to the gym, drive to the gym, work out, drive home etc. I am actually really excited to get back because I feel so fat lately. I was just starting to feel ok about myself too.

I've been searching for a dress for the holiday party for work. I really REALLY wish my arms were in better shape.... and I swear next year at this party, I WILL have them in shape to wear cute strapless dresses. I keep finding adorable dresses but they have shorter sleeves or no sleeves at all and I'd feel super self conscious about it. :-( It sucks!! I just want a dress that isn't going to make me look matronly. I may think like a 40 yr old, according to Facebook lol, but I am 23. So I'm making a goal to focus on my big fat grandma arms.

Super excited to have coffee with Jane this week... she called me last week after receiving their edible arrangement for Christmas (I felt bad it was so late but they were constantly on the go so if I had sent it for actual Christmas, who knows if they would have even received it) and we talked for almost an hour. It was so nice. I saw Aidan in church today and as I was walking up to receive Communion, he turned from his seat and waved at me. It was so cute (I know, a child waving is really not that cute but he was so shady about it like 'I can't do much because we're in church but wanted to say hi!' kind of thing). I miss that little snugglebug. It'll be nice to sit and chat with Jane to catch up. I enjoyed and looked forward to our talks every time I'd go to babysit.

My dad finally fixed the cable... I'm not sure what was wrong with it but I wasn't getting any channels at all so at night if I wanted to watch TV, had to fall to my Friends DVDs. Which honestly, was just fine. I forgot how much I love that show and how hilarious it is. No matter what kind of mood I am in, it ALWAYS makes me feel better. I need to remember that when I need a laugh.

Frigid.

Man ALIVE I am FREEZING. I believe the temp outside is 2* and, despite thermometers on bank signs saying otherwise, I highly doubt it went above 2* all day. It is awful... especially when you're down in the city and the wind makes your face feel like you just got Botox injections. With Tara being in town for a bit, I've been getting together with her and her roommates. It's been a blast and I think I've gone out more this past week than I've gone out in the past year. LOL

I wasn't going to go with them to the city today but this morning Tara kept texting me to go with them so I ran to the shower and got to the train station with 15 minutes to spare. Then we realized the trains were running on the Sunday schedule and that the 12:35pm train we were waiting for was actually coming at 1:25pm. Argh. So we sat around the station and talked.... got down to the city at about 2:30pm and met up with Danielle's cousin who lives in the city. We went to Italian Village for lunch, which was pretty much the only thing open in the entire city. It was a little eery to see everything closed. After lunch, which was basically dinner because we got out of there at 4:30pm, we headed to Millenium Park to ice skate... but it was just way too cold so we got some hot chocolate and went up to the take photos of the Bean then hailed a cab and went to the Sears Tower. I'm surprised they didn't know me by name since I was just there on Monday ;-) We left ST at about 7pm and caught an 8:30pm train home. I am exhausted. Tomorrow we're going to meet for lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant before Danielle heads back to Florida. Then I'm off to work... if I'm not downstaffed.

I'm almost done with my 21 modules of testing for HealthStream. They're so annoying and take up so much time. I got my antibody tests back for Measels, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella and I'm all immune. Yay! :-) All of my blood work came back perfectly.. honestly, I dont know if there's anyone that can be healthier. All of my levels were either on the low side or smack dab in the middle of the normal value ranges. Crazy! I just have to gather everything up now so it can all be turned in by Thursday for nursing. Stressful!! I am seriously trying to hang on to my last few weeks before school starts. Savor. Each. Moment. :-P