An amusing look at what life used to be like. In many ways I wish it was still like this! But we are more "enlightened" now :-)

If you get bored try this addicting game. Use the arrow keys to turn the plane. My highest is a 7. Have fun!! (via matt)

I finally saw The Passion tonight. I was disappointed I think because it didn't seem to quite measure up to the hype. I did think it was very well done. And it's nice to have a visual interpretation of a story I've heard and read many, many times. Whether everything was totally accurate is debatable but I felt like overall it followed the Biblical account pretty well. Of course Gibson had to add some stuff to make it flow but I don't think he added anything that I disagreed with. As for the violence...it was definitely violent but I don't think it was overly violent. I think it's hard to watch because of who it is receiving the beatings (at least who it represents) and because I know it really happened to Him. During the floggings I couldn't stop thinking "by His stripes we were healed" (I Peter 2:24). The movie makes a powerful statement- even more so with the resurrection (wish there would have been more!), and maybe at the least it will expose thousands to the Gospel including those who have never heard or cared before.

Ohio's first sextuplets born today in Akron!! The mother, 3 boys and 3 girls are all doing well. But it must have been on hectic OR suite!! According to the dad "the babies were coming out like a popcorn popper"
(via Molly)

A proposal gone awry...poor guy! It's funny to watch but definitely sad. I hope she had a good reason! (thanks to kev for the heads up on this fascinating story)

Two books I recommend to those interested in WWII and/or military nursing: All This Hell (the tale of nurses captured by the Japanese) and And if I Perish (follows Army nurses through the European theater of WWII) both are written by Evelyn M. Monahan. I found both books intriguing, though a little slow at times, and very informative. I know, probably very few of you will/would enjoy these books but they are worth mentioning!

Mike is feeling well again!! Well, mostly well...well enough to be out and about and not stuck in bed for hours on end!

Kudos to matt for publishing a most entertaining post while I was sick and for providing me with room service!

And the news you've all been waiting for...ok, the news I've been waiting for: For preceptorship I will be working in the Emergency Department (ED; formerly known as the ER) at CMC from 7am-5pm, 4 days a week! As I said before, the ED was my first choice and so I am very excited to have the chance to work there. My preceptor's name is also mike and it's cool that I get to work with a guy. My roommate thinks mike will be sad that he wasn't placed with a cute college girl but got me instead. Oh well, poor mike! This mike's happy though! :-) We start preceptorship on March 15 and continue for 5 weeks. My actual day to day schedule is still unknown but should be coming out soon.

Today I was assigned a home health nurse and visited her clients with her. It was very interesting and enjoyable. The clients we saw were very nice and friendly and the houses were clean and orderly. There wasn't much to do of course but I did do vitals. The visits went quickly and I was back on campus by 12:15! We have tomorrow off so that we can attend the Day of Prayer here on campus.

Mike is not feeling well, so this is matt (aka, the roommate) filling in for him, lest he lose the attention and admiration of his public (aka, you).

Since he last posted, Mike's exciting life has consisted of the following......

Saturday
Slept in. Did laundry. Ate brunch. Started feeling sick. Slept. Tried to do something. Felt more sick. Slept.

Sunday
Slept. Slept. Slept. Ate lunch. Slept. Slept. Relaxed in a somewhat woeful state of misery because he was bored of sleeping. Read. Slept. Ate a lovely catered dinner provided by room service. Slept.

So, as you may have noticed, my roommate is not doing very well. However, he is a noble roommate and does not complain or demand anything. However I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers. (and cards, gifts, flowers, balloons, chocolates, etc...) He will be taking visitors during approved hours. (Girls may use the rope in the window. Only under cover of darkness please).

Keep checking back for updates on the unfolding drama. Soon this blog may be one of the most visited sites on the internet and you don't want to miss out on that! :-)

sincerely,

the roommate

Since yesterday I've heard parts of this story. Since I really don't know the details I will refrain from commenting but at least you can read the "official" news about the story.

The speaker in chapel today was very...interesting. I agree with his main premise about making sure we honor God in everything we do, watch or listen too. I just didn't feel that he did a very good job in presenting his views. I think he felt too rushed and had too much to say that he ended up really not saying anything at all. And I particularly was confused and disagreed with the part about God not winking at things He's winked at in the past. Maybe I misunderstood the speaker but was he saying that at one time God was ok with some "little sins" but now He's not? Doesn't all sin hurt God? Just a little confused by his theology at that point!

Spent the past two days in the PICU. Yesterday was a good day and though I didn't get to do anything too exciting I was able to participate in patient care. And my nurse never stopped so I was busy the whole day which made it go a lot faster. Today was pretty much the opposite. "My" patient was in pretty critical condition (liver and kidney failure) and had many interesting things to learn about (peritoneal dialysis, art line, c-line etc.) but my nurse didn't really want to teach me anything or really let me touch the patient so I really didn't have anything to do all morning. I hung around and observed what the nurse was doing but she wouldn't explain things as she went so it wasn't too helpful. It was cool to see the dialysis in the hospital after learning so much about it. I just wish I could have done more!! Today ended my time at CMC until I start preceptorship at CMC on, as of now, an unknown unit. I requested ER (or ED in most hospitals now). We have been told that we'll find out in the next couple of days our preliminary placements. Definitely anxious, nervous and excited to find out where I'll spend 5 weeks, who my preceptor is and what shift he/she works. I'll spend the next two weeks experiencing home health care. I am looking forward to seeing what it's like but don't really think I'll ever want to do that as my job.

From what I've heard about the video shown in chapel the past couple days it sounds like it was kind of a let down and wasn't all that good or pertinent. For a good take on it see my sister's comment on the previous post regarding the upcoming chapel.

Since I have clinicals tomorrow and wednesday I am going to miss the controversial video they are showing. So if those of you who get to go to chapel feel like emailing your opinion of it I'd appreciate it and maybe even blog some of your comments! :-)

About the only thing I did in Muncie was bake cookies and because I made small cookies and not big ones I ended up with a ton of cookies so if you want any let me know and (as long as you live at CU) I can get you some yummy iced sugar cookies!

It's looking like Dr. Alyn is going to allow Nikki and I to have our Navy comissioning during convocation like we requested. We weren't sure how she would take it but she was very willing to give Don a few minutes near the beginning. So hopefully that is what's going to happen as that makes it so much easier than meeting with all our family and friends again just to take our oath...especially since we don't even have uniforms to wear! For those who aren't actually in convocation, make sure you're planning to attend!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

For those who don't know...I am heading to Muncie for the night...so...

Hope you have a wonderful day regardless of your dating status...the sun is shining and it's beautiful out!! Enjoy the day!

Just finished the first half of the Song of Solomon conference. It's pretty much the same as it was 2 years ago...at least what I can recall. But since it's good to be reminded of these things I feel that it's worth going again. Hopefully the notes I've taken between the two conferences will be helpful when/if I ever start another relationship. Thinking of past relationships...in some ways SOS would be beneficial for high school students though not in the same format. They don't need everything as it's not applicable yet but just learning practically what a Godly relationship should be and how they should relate to each other would be beneficial. Tommy Nelson said something about most High Schoolers not being ready to date...I wouldn't have agreed with him at the time of course but I definitely agree now. Anyway, tomorrow should be just as good but less applicable to me at this point since we're moving into the marriage stage and I obviously haven't even started the dating stage. :-)

Since I originally wrote this post I've learned that they do have a SoS conference designed for junior high and high school students. Just thought you'd like to know :-)

I found out today that I am "featured" in one of the pictures on the main chapel slide shown each day...it's a picture of me giving a poor baby an injection at Bethel Baptist Hospital this past hospital. If you want to catch the picture in chapel I think it's top, center and I am wearing blue scrubs! :-) Thanks for pointing it out to me, Nikki!!!

Clinicals yesterday wasn't as great as Tuesday but wasn't too bad. I was in the same place again but with a different nurse. The patients all had a variety of reasons for being in (eeg, bone marrow scan, I&D) and I wasn't able to do much with or for them. I did d/c a PIV (oh, that means I removed a peripheral IV) which is really nothing but at least it was more than reading vitals off a monitor! The most interesting part of the day was meeting a Filipina staff member and talking to her about the Philippines. She's been in the US since she graduated from high school which is longer than I've been alive but has been back to the Philippines quite frequently to visit family. I don't think I've ever been to her home island but she's been to Manila enough times (went to college at University of Santo Tomas for those familiar with Manila). It was just really cool to talk with her. I am sure I'll run across many more Filipinos while in the Navy...at least I saw plenty of them when I was out in San Diego!!

I also discovered last night that I don't know that much about my friends' childhood but that it's so much fun to hear childhood memories and laugh together. I think "bonding" is becoming more important as we count down the 79 days to graduation!

Had a really good day at CMC!! Was in the Almost Home Unit but was in the short stay section which is where the kids coming in for tests are put for the day. 2 patients I had (well, helped with) were in for chemo (via a lumbar puncture) and another for an echocardiogram. I really enjoyed working with these kids because they aren't acutely sick and it's fun interacting with them. And they are adorable!! It is sad though because they are so precious and it's hard to think that they have cancer and have been going through all this for months and will continue for months. It's heartbreaking!! But like I said, I enjoyed working with them. The chemo kids have ports inserted under their skin for "easy" access. I've been taught about ports but it was interesting to finally see one in a patient. There was only 1 nurse assigned to this section and so we were quite busy because eventually the kids required a lot of attention and all at the same time. Because of this I actually felt useful!! I guess I didn't really do any exciting skill but I stayed busy doing vitals and monitoring the sedated kids. Staying busy and feeling useful makes for a wonderful clinical day! Hopefully I get to work in the same place tomorrow!!

Something to bring a smile to your face!! :-)

Breaking news!! My roomie has been accepted for the ERAP program and will probably be going to China to teach!! Yay matt and congratulations!!! Remember the advice about importing VCRs because I don't want to have to come rescue you! :-)

In case you didn't realize it, there was a basketball game last night. And if you didn't know that it means you didn't go and that means you missed a really good game. CU won but it was pretty close most of the game and so it was exciting. The gym was also packed (probably because it was a saturday and li'l sibs weekendand) and the fans were really into the game. All together it made it a cool basketball game to attend...even if you aren't thrilled about watching basketball. There are 3 more regular season games and then we're done!...not that I've attended every game of course but then I won't feel "guilty" for skipping! :-) Anyway, if you haven't attended a game this year you should...especially a girls game because I've heard they are doing very well this year and from my experience very few people attend.

Went to the Talent show tonight...should have done something else instead...maybe even homework! At least that wouldn't have cost me $4!! If it isn't obvious I was very disappointed with the show. Didn't think there was much originality or variety to the show...ok, so maybe some originality since several wrote their own stuff. But variety? It was pretty much all singing and dancing...is that all the talent this campus has? I did enjoy the two unique (as in it wasn't singing) acts- the stand up comedian and the "dueling" pianists. I don't care if the guy wasn't the funniest comedian I've ever heard. At least he had the guts to get up in front of his peers and makes jokes...and he made some great ones! (I loved the homeschooler getting PDA demerits!- though I know of at least one who has!!) The pianists were a little corny but it was entertaining and they did a really good job with the piece. Sorry you guys didn't win!! And no offense to Michael Dorsey or Jen Irish but they didn't do a great job being emcees...it was like they just found out they were doing it and had no idea what to do. oh well...it was probably better then sitting in my room all night!

Question for those of you who went to chapel yesterday... The speaker made a big deal about how terrible the super bowl half time show was (which I totally agree with!!) but if it was so bad, wouldn't it have made sense to change the channel and watch something else until the game started again?

And another thing...many churches (at least that I am aware of) cancel their evening services on Super Bowl Sunday so people can watch the game. I personally enjoy watching the Super Bowl and so it's nice to have church cancelled but does that really make sense? Are we saying that football is more important than church? If we did go to church while others were watching the superbowl wouldn't it send the message that worshipping God is more important to us than TV? Not that going to church automatically means you have a better relationship with Christ or vice versa. What are your thoughts?

Sorry for my hiatus but it's hard to think of things to blog! I still don't have anything exciting but I figure I better blog before I lose the few people who actually read this blog!

I was switched floors last night and ended up working on 3 West which is the "dirty" floor meaning that most of the patients have communicable illness such as pneumonia or bronchiolitis/RSV. I had three patients with RSV, one with pneumonia and one with glomerular nephritis (problem with her kidneys). The kids were adorable especially the four year old and I felt so bad because they were sick and afraid of me cuz I had to wear a mask and was poking and prodding them. Didn't really do that much but time went quickly for some reason and it was a good night! Tonight's my last evening clinical...have to get up early, early, early from now on!!!