I HATE FLEAS

That is a terrible statement and I am embarrassed to even have to say it. I have fought the desire to blog about the flea infestation in our home until a woman at school and I were talking about it this morning. She has fleas in her house too and is fighting hard to get rid of them. Our cute kitten (who is just a big cat now) came with fleas when we got him. We waited to treat him because we didn't know how old he was and you can't treat a cat under 12 weeks. When I took him to the vet to get fixed and declawed, they treated him because he had fleas. The treatment didn't kill them all, but helped. Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that he had LOTS of fleas and it grossed me out. I didn't want to snuggle with him because he was nasty. So, I bought over the counter flea ointment for the cat and put it on him. It didn't seem to help but I waited a few days.

Saturday I had enough. I bought flea dip for the cat and flea spray for the house. Oh my goodness, the spray for the house was $8.00 for one can. Being cheap and on a super tight budget I only bought one can (I regret that now). I bathed the cat, stripped all the linen from the beds, sprayed everything down with flea spray (I needed more for a second spray but only had the one can) and washed everything we own. Last night I was sitting on the bed and a flea jumped on me. I just about screamed. I just want to burn my house down and start over, but I don't think that is the best choice. Jasper still has fleas and so does our house. I feel like I have fleas crawling all over me. I actually killed two that were on me today at school. GROSS!

My classmate, Lori, told me that warm soapy water in a bowl will attract them and kill them. Others have just told me that I'm going to have to call an exterminator. Matt thinks we should wait for the freeze, but will that really kill them in the house too? HELP ME. Any ideas would be welcomed.

Cruising With Hospice

Wednesday I went out with a hospice nurse. It was part of my community health clinical rotation. I cruised around with a hospice nurse and army man, let's call him "Bob". We visited a home in downtown KC, where Bob said seeing lots of cops around is good. I was surprised that the home we visited was nice and clean. I know that sounds terrible, but we were in a neighborhood where not everyone took care of their yard and some of the houses looked ready to fall down. The family had a pit bull who loved Bob but growled and barked at me. I have often thought that dogs could smell people who don't really like dogs. I don't hate dogs, they are just not my favorite animal. Anyway, it was an interesting visit. I learned that being a hospice nurse is more about coordinating care than it is about nursing. We helped put a lady into respite care, which is where the patient goes to a nursing home or someplace for a few days so the family taking care of the patient can have a break. It is a great service, but took up most of the day with phone calls and paperwork. It was crazy. However, after cruising around with hospice for 8 hours, it may be something I would like to do someday. That is all.

3 Things

The Rules:List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 3 other people. Leave a comment of the people you tag so that they realize that they have been tagged.

3 Joys: 1. The light at the end of the nursing school tunnel. 2. Spending time with my fantastic family, Matt and Will. 3. Putting Will to bed and finding quiet reading time.

3 Fears:1. William getting sick or hurt. 2. Dying young and leaving my family behind to mourn me. 3 . Not graduating or not passing the NCLEX (nursing boards).

3 Current obsessions:1.Stephanie Meyer books. 2. Reading. 3. Blogging and reading other's blogs.

3 meaningless/unknown facts:1. We took William's pacifier away a few days ago and he is doing fine. 2. I want another baby so bad I can hardly wait. 3. I cannot decide what nursing specialty I want to go into. I'm so conflicted and undecided I can't stand it.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if anyone wants to fill this out anyway, feel free.

Glasses vs. Contacts

I am one of those people who has worn glasses or contacts ever since I can remember. I don't know how old I was when I got glasses but I was eight when I got contacts. I was the coolest chick in school for about a week because I had to go take them out halfway through school for about a week so my eyes could get used to the contacts. I have worn gas permeable (or hard) contacts since I was eight. This is just plain old boring me with my contacts in:

On Tuesday I was taking my first Maternity test of the summer (it was a multiple choice test, not a test on how good of a mother I am or how good a pregnant person I was). In the middle of the test my right contact started bothering me so I took it out, gave it a spit shine (which you should never do - bacteria you know), and replaced it in my eye. However, the replacement move didn't work so well and the contact fell on the floor. Oops. Remember, this is in the middle of a test. So what did I do? After searching my seated person (including down the front of my shirt), I got on my hands and knees and searched for my contact. The crazy thing is my instructor never even noticed I was on all fours on the floor during the test. Way to proctor the test and make sure we aren't cheating. Anyway, I didn't find my contact so I finished the test without it. Then I called Matt, woke him up, and had an argument (which everyone still taking the test heard - oops). He came up with my glasses and flashlights to look some more after the test was over. We didn't find it. The carpet in the classrooms is this weird print that is made to not show dirt, etc. Needless to say, it also doesn't show lost contacts very well. So, I got to wear my glasses:

My first plan was to wear my glasses until I graduated from nursing school in January, got a job, and had money to pay for a new eye exam and new contacts (because we are broke right now). However, after two days of wearing my glasses and a HUGE headache from them, my mom called and asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told her my sob story and she offered to pay for my eye exam and new contacts. God Bless my mom. She is a lifesaver and a saint. Today, when we got out of 12 hour clinicals after 6 hours (a whole different story) I made an appointment at Wal-Mart and got my eyes checked. Bless the doctor's heart, she gave me a disposable pair of soft contacts in my prescription to last me until they can get my contacts ordered. They are my prescription but do not correct my astigmatism (whatever that is). However, my headache is gone and even though I cannot see as well with the soft contacts as with my gas permeable ones, it's still better than glasses. Apparently my glasses are a bit too strong (thus the headaches). I did learn one interesting fact about my eyesight today. I am a -10 in my right eye and a -8 in my left eye. I have crappy vision, even for a nearsighted person. I'm happy with the soft contacts for now, but am excited that I get my regular contacts in a week or so. I promise to try real hard not to lose a contact for at least a year :)

Les Miserables

So, Les Miserables came to Kansas City. We heard it was coming several months ago and made the decision we were going to go. Matt took time off work so we could go on a Saturday and I bought tickets (the cheap $9 for 11 people). Let me back up. Les Miserables played at Starlight Theater which is an outdoor theater in Kansas City. I love going to Starlight because they have cheap tickets, good musicals, and you get to sit outside under the stars and appreciate what God has blessed us with (stars, bugs, etc).

Our Les Miserables tickets were for Saturday September 13th, 2008 (this past Saturday). When I bought the tickets over a month ago I didn't know Hurricane Ike would be attacking Galvastin and moving our way. We had tornados in the KC area on Friday night, the 12th, and it has rained in KC for the past seven days or so. Our friends Donald and Michelle, along with Donald's mom decided not to go to the show Saturday. Starlight's policy on cancelling a show for rain is that they don't. Unless there is a tornado or something, they don't cancel. They will postpone a show for an hour, and then after the hour, they will think about canceling. Matt and I made sure we each had a raincoat and we bought four $0.99 ponchos and we went to Starlight. It wasn't raining when we got there and it hadn't rained most of the day so I thought we were ok. Boy was I wrong. We handed out all of our ponchos to our family who came but didn't bring rain gear (except umbrellas which are not allowed during the show). It rained lightly during the first act. Intermission was fine (and the funnel cake was great) but during the second act it rained like crazy. They never did delay the show or anything because it was just rain, but many people (including my sister-in-law and her boyfriend) left because it was raining so hard. Matt and I were soaked because the ponchos we were going to use to cover our laps were given out to others. However, it was totally worth it. The show was FANTASTIC. I had seen it once a long time ago in Dallas and it was just as wonderful as I remembered. I even cried, although it has been years since I cried while listening to the music. I would do it again in a heartbeat, rain and all.

Word World

My fabulous husband blogged about Sesame Street and how it's gone down hill since his days (because he's so old). That got me to thinking about the PBS shows William and I watch in the morning. I love this show called Word World. Will likes it too, but I just think it is genius. All of the animals are made from their name. For example, sheep is made from the letters SHEEP. The barn where sheep lives is made out of the letters BARN. Here are some examples since it really is hard to explain:
The show is totally cool. If anyone has small children at home and haven't watched this show, I suggest you check it out. http://pbskids.org/wordworld/index_flash.html.

Oh My Goodness

This is a school blog, so don't say I didn't warn you. Today we had
Community Health class and we spent the entire two hours talking about
all of our clinical rotations and projects we have to do. TWO HOURS!
We have a paper on a community that can be no more than 20 pages. At
first I thought that was a joke, but after talking about it, I'm sure
it will be close to twenty pages, and that is working in a group of
four.

We also have to go to an elementary school wellness/nursing day, a
nursing day at Graceland (we ate presenting things at these), two days
with hospice, one teaching day at a senior center, and one 8 hour
community service project of our choice. I'm so overwhelmed! We also
have papers and assignments IN my three other classes. I love school,
but thank goodness I only have four and a half months left. More than
that and I would just give up!

Midnight Sun

I am very surprised that none of my friends have blogged about Midnight Sun, so I am going to go ahead. First, I would like to say that whoever leaked the manuscript to begin with should be shot! Maybe not killed, but definitely shot. I was not going to read the half a story because I was sooooo upset. Then my friend Suzzanne asked if I had read it and we got to texting about it and I had to start. I LOVED it. Seeing things from Edward's persepective helped bring the whole series together. I understood why he did what he did in New Moon (I still don't like it but I can understand it better). Alice makes me laugh! So does Emmitt. I don't like Rosealie, but then I never did so that isn't any different. Jasper is the only one that I still don't quite understand. Oh well. We can't have everything, right?

I finished Midnight Sun and it was so unsatisfying in it's lenght that I had to read Breaking Dawn again. Oh how I love Breaking Dawn and the whole series. Apparently the Twilight movie has jumped into the November 21st spot vacated by Harry Potter, so we get to see that sooner. I cannot wait for the movie. I am so obsessed with the books it's sad. I really want Stephanie Meyer to finish Midnight Sun because I NEED it. (I'm so needy!) I hope all of you loved it as much as I did and hope she finishes it soon. You can't let one stupid person keep you from doing something you love. Even if she doesn't finish it now, I cannot imagine her never going back to it. It will call to her and she will be compelled to finish it (I hope).

What I Learned In School Today

My current nursing class is Maternity and Woman's Health. Today we
talked about the labor and delivery process. It was very interesting.
We watched a video showing a c-section and a vaginal birth. The baby
that came out vaginally looked fake. The delivery just didn't look
real-it was cool but freaky.

That isn't the thing I learned today that was interesting to me today,
however. Did you know your pelvic bones have a shape that makes
delivery of babies easier or harder? I didn't until today. This new
information led me to think about my own pregnancy and delivery. I had
a C-section and I always assumed that it was decided because my labor
that they were trying to induce wasn't progressing. Now that I have
more information, I'm wondering if I have a funky pelvic bone that
isn't as conducive to vaginal delivery. I wonder if they took a look
at Will's head size ((which is large) and that with my pelvic size
Made them decide: 1- to try and induce labor and 2- to have a C-
section if I didn't progress within a certian amount of time. The
option, after trying to induce labor for 2 days was c-section now or
later.

Another thing I learned today is why women who have c-sections usually
have them with all their kids. I won't go into gory details but it's
dangerous and babies as well as moms can die and it may make mom not
able to have kids ever again. I think I'll stick with the c-section
and let go of my dreams of normal delivery. I don't want to die, lose
the ability to have more kids, and I sure do t want my baby to die.

The Beginning of The End

It is official, Ladies and Gentlemen. Today is the beginning of the end, or at least that is what I am calling it. Today I went to the first day of class in my last semester of nursing school. Well, actually I went to the Matriculation ceremony, where the Juniors are welcomed into Nursing school, and to Senior orientation where I learned about my books being online. I'm way excited about my books being on my computer and online. I can put a search topic in and it will search all my nursing textbooks because they decided to allow us to have ALL our textbooks from my whole nursing career. I think that is great. I am totally pumped about the study advantage this will give me (I'm such a nerd).

Right now, while I am waiting for my books to download, I am blogging rather than studying for tomorrow's Maternity class. What a way to start the semester! Go Me.