Happy September!

Oh September, I thought you'd never come. I was counting down the days until you showed up.... so I could get rid of my phone and get a new one. I decided to get the Blackberry Curve. I have heard so many people that just love it and actually talked to many this past weekend as well that say they wouldn't get another phone. I wanted to go at 9am when the store opened (lol) but went on my run first, showered, stopped at work to get my new ID photo taken (thank GOD... I no longer have blond, short hair on my ID anymore) and then went over to Sprint. They were great, explained a few things and then off I went. I've spent some time this afternoon just trying to figure out how to make a call. LOL Hopefully within a few days, I'll have no problem.

I saw on Yahoo today that The Duggars are expecting their 19th baby. Wow!! That is insane but at the same time, I am happy for them. I would never ever have the patience for 19 kids... there are somedays I have no patience for myself and wish they had a 'patience' pill to help me out. I must say I am slightly jealous of how they live and I know that sounds crazy because it's a little odd. But I do think the way they run their family is admirable especially with the way our world is now. They should be very proud. 

Running went well today... there were times during running where I ran into my walking time and felt like I could keep going. I think it's when you first start off you get that dreaded 'ughhh I would sooo rather be sleeping right now' but after that first minute or so, you get into the groove of it. I swear though, if people wouldn't look at me strangely, I would bust a move with the songs I have on my playlist. It just keeps me so upbeat and energetic throughout the workout. I love it. I ordered a watch on eBay so I can stop using my dad's. LOL Anyway, one more day of week 2 and it's on to week 3, which is insane! That's running for 90 seconds, then walking for 90 seconds. Gettin' to the big guns now! :)

Out of the box.

Ok, so I am usually a pretty 'keep to  myself' type of person. I don't like to make a scene or draw attention to myself (I know, that's a surprise from my needy self). After finishing my volunteering duties at what seemed like the 100th time I was at this fest, I told myself I'd eat some lunch and then leave... well we went to watch a friend of the family's son do the pie eating contest. Little did I know I'd be pulled into it! I got a family friend to sign up and do it along with me so I didn't look completely stupid. It was hilarious!! You don't have to quite finish the pie but you have to go until you can see the tin on the bottom. I must have been nervous because I was shaking... one of my friends said she was going to ask if I was ok because I was shaking so much. I didn't really notice but do get like that when I get nervous about things. Good thing I wasn't standing or my knees would be shaking. Yikes! I just dug right into the pie (triple berry... yum!) and thought I had gotten first place but turns out it was some of the dough on the bottom. So I just used my teeth to scrap it away. I did have a great time though doing that... I felt like a little kid again. Some guy got it on video with his iphone so he's going to email it to me... can't wait to see that!! And the 4 kids I sit for and their dad came to watch me... what a great fan base I have ;-) 

Now it's off to a new week... school and work. My new plan is to stay ahead of my school work. I have so much coming up in September, I cannot fall behind. So far so good but it's just the beginning. I'd like to do well in this class. I am also turning in my nursing application tomorrow and getting my school ID. I am so nervous about turning in my nursing application. Like it's a step closer but I just pray I get in. 

I missed church this morning and am bummed about that. :-( I could have gone at 8am and had planned on it but my alarm went off at 6:45am and I was so tired I turned it off and fell back asleep. Even now, I can barely keep my eyes open without the air burning them. We had to be at the fest by 10am to start volunteering. Kind of a bummer... I missed going though. I should have gone last night at 5pm.... excuses excuses.

I just want to cry right now. So many things going through my mind, too tired to even attempt to post them.

Whatta night.

Ok so I went to our town's Streetfest tonight. I am just dreading the fact THIRLLED beyond words that I'm going to be there basically every day this weekend. I hate crowds. Especially crowds that act like they've never been out in public before. They wear their best outfits ie: daisy duke short shorts and a tube top and shake it like it's no one's business. Or the people that act like complete idiots. My biggest pet peeve though is people smoking in around me. Get the fluck away from me... I don't give a crap if you don't care that you're killing yourself slowly with cancer but I sure as hell don't want it. NOR do I want to walk around smelling like a walking cigarette. Go off to the side or better yet, go to your car, and just inhale all that smokey goodness yourself so the rest of us don't have to endure it. Seriously! I now have the biggest headache and my throat is all scratchy from it. I swear to God, sometimes these fests are like one big free-for-all... let's all get drunk and act like idiots! @@ GROW UP. So tomorrow I get to sell beer tickets and Sunday I'll sell water and pop. My only saving grace is that it's in the morning so it's more family-oriented... most of the idiots don't come out until later. 

I also love it when you see mother's out with their newborn babies... and no hat on the baby when it's barely 60*. WTF are people thinking? It makes me so angry. You have sex without protection and get pregnant, it is no longer 'you you you' anymore, lady. This is a PERSON you are responsible for... you come after your baby. Give the child a HAT.... better yet, wait until at LEAST a month old before you start bringing him outside by all the crazy ass emo kids and the cigarette smoke. Geez. 

And further more, I appreciate the effort on people's parts trying to set me up with every person that walks by but it's really grating on my nerves. I try to make light of it, laugh it off etc but I can only do that for so much longer. I'm not sure why it bothers me but it does. Cool it, people. I am 22 and I'm ok with it.

Welcome back, class.

Oh what to say... it's been a crazy week trying to get back into the routine of everything that is my life. I know I'll probably die in January if I start nursing school because this'll be nothing compared to that. My Micro class is definitely more in depth than I thought it would be but we do have homework assignments, which is great and gives me a chance to collect more points rather than just depend on the tests and quizzes. I am a horrible test taker so those odds are normally not in my favor. I have lab twice a week, which is different than semesters in the past with only one lab a week... quite frankly, that was ENOUGH. Lab itself is the most complicated part of this class... we have to wear lab coats, goggles, clean our tables with cavicide every time before class, close toed shoes, hair up and sometimes wear masks. Good times playing around with bacteria. Bleh. We did do an experiment last Monday where we swabbed something in the environment and then something on our bodies to see what would grow... I swabbed the bottom of my purse and would you believe, nothing grew?? I was amazed! I also swabbed the tip of my finger and there were a few growths but nothing spectaclar. One of the girls swabbed under her wedding ring and oh my gosh, it was DISGUSTING. So... note to all you lucky girls who have wedding rings... clean 'em!

Running is going well... one week down, eight to go! Tomorrow starts week 2 day 1; 90 seconds of running, 120 minutes of walking.... we'll see how it goes!! I am still motivated and running in the rain yesterday wasn't as bad as I thought. I listen to my ipod with my armband and the music keeps me going. If I could dance on the sidewalk while running, without looking like a complete idiot, I probably would. LOL I printed the registration form for the race and will fill it out and send it in. I don't think it's set in yet... running a 5k. WHAT?! 3 miles is nothing when walking but running is a whole different story.

Couch to 5K

So I've started yet another program to get myself into shape. Only this time, I've pulled along one of my best friends to do it with me. I am excited because we'll encourage each other these next 9 weeks, running rain or shine, and then come together and run a 5k. It's a little more challenging because she's in another state but it'll only make the motivation stronger... right? LOL

I did my first run today so we'll count that as W1D1 and it felt really good. I think partly because I was all geared up to start it. I don't think I'll be so refreshed a week from now. I run Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and want to try and do some sort of yoga thing in between as it's recommended and good for you. I am just so sick of being fat. South Beach is back on as well, like I said in my previous post, and that's going alright... we had a little going away party for one of my favorite nurses as she's leaving our floor *cry*. We ordered food last night at work and had 4 different types of cake. I was so bad and had a piece of chocolate cake and another one from a Polish deli... pear chocolate. How can someone pass that up?

Anyway, we will see how this goes with running and such. I am excited about it and even more excited to do it with a friend. :-)

Doctor's appt and all my adventuring.

So my doctor's appointment did not go without an adventure, of course. There's always somethin' with me. The actual appointment was ok... I didn't wait at all and was seen almost immediately. I think they have a flag on my file saying something along the lines of 'doctor forgot about patient during first appointment... do not make her wait'. LOL I am glad I stuck with this doctor as she seems to be on top of things for me and genuinely seems to want me to be successful in maintaining and bettering myself with the diseases I have. My blood pressure was higher than usual but I am beginning to think she doesn't know how to take someone's BP because every time I go there, it's elevated. Not to the point of concern but I am usually 110/60 and this last time it was 135/75. Still perfectly fine and normal but odd that it was so high for me. I was not nervous... ok maybe a little to jump on that scale. LOL Speaking of which, I'm just going to say that today is my 3rd day back on South Beach. ;-) She recommended I go back on it, which I agreed with. It really not only helped me lose weight but made me feel 10 times better and I have not been feeling well lately. She did up my Synthroid dose from 50mcg to 75 mcg to see if that'll bring my TSH levels to a better number. Right now, it's 2.01 which is techincally ok but I could tell it was going to be higher than my last level of .92. I was feeling terrific last appointment in Feb. and not that I was feeling terrible this time around, just different. More run down, always tired again (which I kind of blame my bad eating habits on) and just blah. She didn't say anything about the Metformin I should be taking. *giggle* I haven't taken that in a long time because I hate the side effects of it. I should be taking it as it'd help me with weight loss but I do not want to be in the bathroom every time I eat something. Not my thang'. So I take the 75mcg Monday Wednesday and Fridays and the 50mcg Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and get a redraw on Sept 30th.

Today was my last official day of summer. *loud obnoxious sigh* It.royally.sucks. I'm going to miss not having a chapter to read or a test or quiz to study for. I feel when I'm in school I should feel guilty if I have a free moment and I'm not studying. My life is not school. It never ever will be or I'd die. School is so not fun for me and I have never enjoyed it. I am grateful I have the opportunity to go through it and will not regret it but I never want to go through it again once I am finished. I go back to work tomorrow after being off for almost 2 weeks. It was really nice but I feel totally isolated from anything that's gone on there (which may not necessarily be a bad thing ;-) ). I work the next 6 days in a row and start school Monday morning. I only go two days a week but it's the studying and homework I'm not so fond of. BUT I'm going to try and think 'glass half full' rather than pessimistic. It's going to happen so make the best of it, right? :-)

I still have my review at work soon. I handed everything in before I left for NC, now I just have to meet with my boss and discuss what everyone said about me. LOL It's like an approved 'talking behind your back' session. Fingers crossed it's all good!

So my adventure after my appointment... I had a karaoke party with a few friends from work. I was supposed to be at the party anytime between 3pm and 4pm and my appt was at 1:30pm so before leaving my house, I decided to google directions from the dr's to my friends to avoid traveling extra mileage. My doctor's appt is in Skokie, a suburb very close to Chicago and about 45 minutes from me. I have no issue getting there or going home but followed the directions Google Maps gave me. Google Maps suck. LOL It took me miles away from where I would have normally entered the expressway yet still had me enter the same exact expressway, only miles down the road. No point. I get on the expressway and look for the Chicago sign to enter anothert expressway. I see nothing. I stay on the expressway to see if maybe I go a little further it'll be there.... nope. Instead I've now traveled so far out of my way and I see a sign that the expressway is now ending. WTH! I exit and get back on going back the way I came, thinking maybe I got on the wrong way. Now I am heading into Chicago. WONDERFUL. Not! I have never driven in the city before nor did I want to try. I exited and had no flippin' clue where I was. I took my phone out that has GPS and it told me I was in Lincolnwood. I used to babysit for a family all of the time in Lincolnwood so I tried remembering at least the street that they lived on because if I could get to their house, I'd be able to get on the expressway I was looking for the whole time. My GPS took me all over the place. It was by complete miracle that I ended up turning onto their street. I have no clue how, but it happened and I could have kissed the street. I had finally found where I was, got on the expressway, sat in some traffic and headed to my friends house. Little did I know my gas light turned on and the trip info literally had a line through how many miles until my tank was empty. I again took out my trusty GPS on my phone and searched for a gas station... one within a 2 mile radius. I really did not think I'd make it the two miles to the gas station but I tried and I luckily did. Oh my gosh, it was crazy and I almost cried. What a freaken day! But I had a TON of fun karaoking with some friends so it made it all worth it. :-)