#7 November 28, 2009

Tomorrow is my last day of Thanksgiving break. It has been lovely.

I definitely did not study as much as I had planned. My grandma used to say that sometimes your eyes can be bigger than your stomach. (I think I got that right- kind of like yesterdays “Black Thursday” comment!) Anyway, you get the point. I brought Ashennbrenner’s 50 lb. Pharmacology textbook. Beautiful. It took a ride in my rolling suitcase because I’m pretty sure I’ll injure my back carrying it in a backpack. I also brought my Patho notes from the entire semester since our final exam is the “C” word… comprehensive. Then there were the Psych notes (also the “C” word), the laptop, the blank flashcards, and the pink, blue, and yellow highlighters which I carefully picked out so I could decipher all of the very important facts about all those medications in my colorful med charts.

I made 13 flashcards. Maybe.

As I always say, not really, but it I live by it…occasional indulgence is okay. Once in a while, eating too much chocolate is a good thing.  Spending the entire week not studying so you feel like your very limited Christmas/Hanukkah break is longer than it actually is, is also a good thing.

So I am Thankful for Thanksgiving break.

I am thankful that I can lead a semi normal and happy life that is free of 24/7 studying.  And even though my eyes were bigger than my stomach- I don’t care because 13 flash cards is better than 0 flashcards!

48.7% November 14, 2009

(i wrote this for my blog at for my school, and I like it….)

Today, as a friend and I stood on the sidewalk across from the grocery store, I exclaimed, “Wow! Do you see what I see?!”

“A Christmas Tree!”

Okay Whole Foods, a little premature, but we don’t mind! Hello Christmas!!

And with that said, we, the Accelerated class of 2010, are one holiday closer to becoming RNs! Soon it will be hearts plastered over the windows, Shamrocks, Easter bunnies, and then, can you believe it? Graduation will be here. Sometimes it feels like the year is dragging on- Patient Care plan, after Patient Care plan, but then you are amazed that you can even write a Patient care plan, as you look down at your feet and see boots, remembering that when you first arrived you were wearing flip flops and attending class everyday pretty much covered in sweat on account of the East coast humidity.

How the time flies…

Being a one half nurse is a great feeling- for all of our not-knowing, we have so much more knowing that we could have ever possibly imagined. I mean, I can tell you about cancer, how and why and even what drugs to take! This is insanity. This is coming from a woman who got her undergrad in Arts and Social Sciences and Elementary Ed., who was terrified of Biology and preferred reading and writing poetry to wondering about cells and how the body worked.

Now I wonder about cells. I am absolutely fascinated.

Our second semester is coming to a close, we have learned ¾ of our drugs, and on Wednesday, 3/4 of our diseases. We’ve watched babies be caught, and we’ve practiced, practiced, and then practiced therapeutic communication some more with our mental health patients. OB was great- babies are wonderful, but then so are patients with dementia. This is my unit. Other students are on units with patients who have major depressive disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, chronic pain, substance abuse issues, and obsessive compulsive disorders. Incredibly fascinating and incredibly devastating….but we have learned and seen that there is hope for many of these patients.

We are all learning to talk and to be the intervention to the patient. A lot of the time it’s listening, some of the time it’s redirecting someone and calming them down, other times it ‘s coloring pictures, and sometimes it’s sitting with the patient to just be there. It’s weird to think about your very presence being therapeutic- no talking, no teaching, no BP cuff, no listening to lung sounds, but just being. It’s a shift in thinking, we often feel like saying, but I should do this, or this! But I think we have all learned a lot about how to talk and how to be patient, and how to be non-judgmental, and how to just be.

~Enjoy your Thanksgiving! I’m off to model the grocery store and prematurely bask in the Christmas season with music while I study Patho!

 

happy birthday November 3, 2009

Yep, it’s true. Another year has passed! If I didn’t have a Pharmacology exam

with 48 drugs to memorize, I might be singing something other

than, “It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.” This Pharm party is not a very fun way to spend the

old birthday-day!

Ahhh nursing school… Life is funny, in an ironic way, and in

in a ‘ha ha’sort of way too.

sometimes i love baltimore. October 25, 2009

fall is pretty

and Jenny and baby Jaida are lovely.

I love Jaida

she kicks Jenny all day long and she makes my Jenny go…. “fwoooooooooo”when she breathes.

Also I love Jaida because she is helpful. Jenny and I are indecisive.

“Jenny, are you hungry, wanna eat?

I don’t care.

Do you want to eat Rachel?

I don’t care.

Well what do you want to eat?

I dunno. What do you want to eat Rachel?

I don’t know.

Jaaaida??? Are you hungry? Yes!!  Do you want tofu!? Yes!!”

oh Jaida, I love you!

Jenny and Jaida.

exerpt from jonathan foer’s new book…. “eating animals” October 12, 2009

When I was 9, I had a baby sitter who didn’t want to hurt anything. She put it just like that when I asked her why she wasn’t having chicken with my older brother and me.

“Hurt anything?” I asked.

“You know that chicken is chicken, right?”

Frank shot me a look: Mom and Dad entrusted this stupid woman with their precious babies?

Her intention might or might not have been to convert us, but being a kid herself, she lacked whatever restraint it is that so often prevents a full telling of this particular story. Without drama or rhetoric, skipping over or euphemizing, she shared what she knew.

My brother and I looked at each other, our mouths full of hurt chickens, and had simultaneous how-in-the-world-could-I-have-never-thought-of-that-before-and-why-on-earth-didn’t-someone-tell-me? moments. I put down my fork. Frank finished the meal and is probably eating a chicken as I type these words.

What our baby sitter said made sense to me, not only because it seemed so self-evidently true, but also because it was the extension to food of everything my parents had taught me. We don’t hurt family members. We don’t hurt friends or strangers. We don’t even hurt upholstered furniture. My not having thought to include farmed animals in that list didn’t make them the exceptions to it. It just made me a child, ignorant of the world’s workings. Until I wasn’t. At which point I had to change my life.

((the link to the rest of this article is in go vegan- great read))

letter for you, neighbor. October 8, 2009

** Yes, this will be hanging on the little clip on her/his door.**

Dear Neighbor who lives in the apartment above me,

Hello! You don’t know me, but I live directly below you, in fact, I’m 99% sure that your bedroom is RIGHT above mine, and because the layout of this room is so weird, your bed is also probably in a very similar spot. So hey! We practically know each other, which is good, except for the fact that  you and I are having some major issues, and I thought we might try and clear them up in case we actually meet face to face someday.  You don’t want me to give you the stink eye. (I’m passive aggressive like that.)

You see, it’s like this. You’re kind of driving me crazy because you’re making me tired.  I’m a full time nursing student so I need sleep like I never have before. I need at least 7 .5 hours and you are making this an impossible goal. My ears feel irritated, and dark circles are forming under my eyes…  and it’s because I wake up early every morning since you moved in.

You thump. I stare at the ceiling. I grumble to no one in particular (since you can’t hear me) I calmly ask, “Are. You. Serious?” Sometimes, less calmly, I add, “SERIOUSLY!?”  and I might pull my covers over my head (no, it does not help- it just feels dramatic) depending on how tired I am. But I consider myself a nice person, so I want to give you the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t think you want to intentionally make my mornings a little miserable, but there are possible bad habits which are causing a real rift in our apartment neighbor relationship.

I have tried to imagine what the heck is happening up there that creates the noise your feet make when they THUD! THUD! THUD!! directly above my sleepy head. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. You have a vigorous morning exercise ritual. You do several jumping jacks in the morning at your bedside.

2. You have a vigorous morning exercise ritual. You jump in place, then do laps around your bed.

3. Your bed posts are really high- like three feet off the ground- high, so you literally jump off your bed in the morning… but then you decide to make the jumping down and climbing back up part of that exercising, so you do it several times every morning.

Also, I should mention… I noticed you vacuum most nights at about 11:30 pm. Why?  Oh, and how could I forget, you open then slam your dresser drawers shut. Are you angry at your clothes?

Might I suggest?

1. Use the apartment gym to exercise. It’s  practically right out side our apartment door! You can run, you can do jumping jacks and you can even lift some weights.

2. Hang up your clothes or if you really hate them so much, take them all out of your drawers and give them to Goodwill.

3. Tennis balls. I figure I can lay them on the pillow next to me and when you get a little  out of control with the exercising, I can chuck them at the ceiling as a gentle  reminder for you to get yourself to the gym!

Be well and please, less stomping, it’s driving me crazy,

Rachel

groceries can be rough. September 27, 2009

Oh the life of a college student living in the city…with no car… who is in need of napkins.

My bike, though I love it, only fits about one bag of groceries. So what do you do when you have to buy tofu, bananas, laundry detergent, and napkins? It’s like “The Perfect Storm.” It’s practically a crisis situation.

Observe:

I told my napkins to stay on, and I was only semi confident that they actually would- but after just getting out of a 7 1/5 hour Sunday class, I was too tired for things like good-judgment or rationale. They took way too much energy at that point.

Ever have one of those days? So this is how it played out: First it started to sprinkle. (And by the way: Walking in the rain? Good. Running? Better. Biking? I’d rather memorize 15 drugs- for fun.) Then, I dropped my keys in the middle of the crosswalk (remember the long class/tired/lack of judgment thing?) So I turned around, grabbed my keys and while bending over, my beloved orange tic tacs fell out of my pocket. I laughed. But my napkins? Intact.

I made it halfway home- feeling like “Yah, I could buy napkins anytime! No biggie! …but then when I glanced back I noticed my napkins had dislodged themselves. Did I turn around for them? Um. Yes.  There they were, rectangular and bright yellow packaging- in all their recycled-napkin glory. I grabbed them, (keys and orange tic tacs now safely zipped into my pocket) held them in my left hand, smiled at the elderly couple in the car who did not run me over (or my napkins for that matter) and went on my way- noticing that the drizzle had stopped.

The days of getting to pick more than five items at the grocery store are long gone. The days are here when I have to choose between salsa and a pound of grapes, buying napkins stresses me out, and toilet paper? (shudder) yah, that’s a 45 minute bus ride- You better bet your buns, we’re stocked up on that stuff. I don’t want to be biking through the drizzly city droppin my TP in the middle of the intersection. (I don’t care if it’s packaged- I’d adopt the same rule we have at the hospital- “If it drops, leave it!”

oh city. You make me miss my car terribly.

August 14, 2009

Why hello there! It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that I had something to say that didn’t have to do with “you know what” ((whispers) nursing school). I recently told my roommate (proudly, I might add) that I hadn’t thought about “you know what” all day- but then questioned if thinking about how you haven’t thought about something, actually counts as thinking about the thing itself. I’m pretty sure it does not. But perhaps I’m lying to myself in a desperate attempt to escape anything nursing school- at least for three weeks that is. Omy. Because of my words, you are probably thinking to yourself. “Wow, she really hates school!” Not true- it’s just that… let me explain… Someone recently asked me if  nursing school was ‘kicking my ass’, I told them that it didn’t kick it  so much as it made it sore. That’s right. It’s not school in itself that  I desperately needed a break from; it was the building, it was Baltimore in general. We literally spent 12 1/2, 9 1/2, 7 1/2 (our blessed “short day”) hours sitting in classrooms, or being in lab. Then we’d come home and sit at our desks and work on assignments.

Our bony prominences hurt. Real bad! And if there’s one thing I can take away from my first semester, I’ve learned that long sedentary hours on bony prominences can lead to pressure ulcers. Bad news bears people. Don’t worry, I did not develop pressure ulcers on my prominences. I’m way too wiggly for that.

Aside from my  memories of my prominences, and soreness, and long hours in room 140, I am again, feeling happy as a lark, but this time, because I am free for two more weeks! 

In other unrelated happy news: 

Rachel got a bike!! (I don’t compeltely know why that was written in third person) but it’s awesome!! Way better than my expensive little REI bike that is sitting in Seattle. I got my vintage French red bike with a basket and bell (thank you Mya!) for $75!! I know, I know, you are soo jealous, but don’t judge me for what I am about to say… I deserved it.

In other not as exciting, but almost as equally important news: New York. I was there for the first time and it was splendid! I walked probably 20 miles (I’m totally serious) so I didn’t feel the least bit bad about my lack of self restraint as I ate a gluten free, vegan; oatmeal raisin cookie for breakfast, chocolate cupcake for dessert, and chocolate cheese cake for my other dessert. 

 

Alrighty friends! Sorry to rush off in such a hurry, but I have just been informed that I must finish now! I’m on my way to the beach with a car full of bikes! 

More soon!

Loves!

around town. June 27, 2009

knit graffiti

shoe store + chocolate store… amazing.

charming viney buildings

my favorite stand at the farmer’s market

lovely parks

I miss you a lot June 26, 2009

Last night was admittedly difficult. Baltimore can feel like a very lonely place and I am not particularly fond of crying.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel blessed to be here, and 92% of the time, I’m happy as a lark keeping busy with school. As you can imagine there isn’t much time carved out in my planner to fit in, “pity party 10:00 pm” Though I do manage it occasionally.

Because of my little unscheduled pity party last night,  I didn’t get enough sleep- alas, it was a long day, a great day at the hospital, but long.

This is the place in the story where the wise woman would go to bed. I can be unwise. I also can’t go to bed at 8:00. So I decided to run through my neighborhood for the first time!

I think part of my disconnectedness with Baltimore is the fact that I haven’t been able to run through it’s streets. Running through my neighborhood is how I become acclimated to my surroundings, and not being able to acclimate myself after being here for five weeks has made things quite difficult. This little hip issue of mine, has really thrown a wrench in my life, but I decided it’s been felling pretty good, so I thought I’d give it a little test run.  I walked past my gym full of safe ellipticals and stationary bikes, and walked through the gate and I ran. It was beautiful.

I think I often describe things as glorious, but truly, it was. I ran through Mt Vernon the top of this hill, past the Walter Museum, past some beautiful monuments, and past some parks with lightning bugs. Lightning bugs make me smile. They remind me of my summers in Ohio. Glorious lightning bugs. Then there were the buildings. Mt Vernon has some very beautiful historical architecture with charming mini parks in between. I ran past people dining outside in the heat of the evening while the sun was setting. They were smiling and laughing and eating delicious food. Glorious.

I stopped at the intersection with the cathedral and the Washington monument. Amazing. I will never get used to how beautiful they are.

At the intersection at one of the parks there was a boom box, yes, just like in the 80’s with the late Michael Jackon blaring and people dancing randomly. I had no idea why, so I walked up and talked to them. Great people. As much as I love dancing, I had to decline. Sweaty Rachel in sweaty running shorts, makes for an uncomfortable dancer! But anyhow, it too was glorious!

Then there was Oggie. I love Oggie. Oggie is this beautiful dog who was in the park. I petted Oggie and told the owner that she should definitly bring Oggie to the hospital to visit patients because he is such a perfect dog!

My leg managed to let me run that short distance and I was so thankful because I think I really needed to get out and explore the neighborhood when I was in my element…not hurrying to class, but peacefully, happily enjoying my surroundings while I ran through them.

But just for your peace of mind, (for those of you who watch The Wire) No worries… with my hip, I defintely will not make this a habit. I was just thankful to get out and appreciate my new home for the next year.

Oh, and my glorious little night wouldn’t be complete without telling you how I ended it by laying “illegally” next to our pool and letting my legs dangle in. There’s nothing like Sufan Stevens, and your own thoughts of contentedness to send you off to blog and bed with a smile.

goodnight.

farmer’s market June 7, 2009

It’s such a beautiful day here in charm city! It’s one of those blue sky, “I love this city” (even if I really don’t!) kind of days! I finally made it to the farmers market, which is at the bottom of the hill, and it was awesome! For roughly $20 I got: 10,000 lbs of kale

(haha, okay it was 1 lb. but 1 lb. of kale is more than I can eat in a week, and here’s the best thing: $1. I also got spring onions for .75, a salad mix, blueberries, strawberries,
and my personal favorite:

I LOVE cosmos! They are my favorite flower!

And did I mention that most everything I bought was organic and locally grown!? Yay for supporting local farmers!

Next week, I plan on buying some herbs and veggies that are pretty hard to kill (squash and eggplant) and start my balcony garden!

my life in new england. in less than 30 pictures. May 24, 2009

here’s a quick snapshot of my life for the past five or so months! Enjoy!

new May 23, 2009

on my vegan page! pictures of …

ice cream and links to great slide shows from msnbc (where i got the butterfly picture below)

enjoy!

bye! May 18, 2009

the time which i have found that i experience with all too much familiarity is quickly approaching.

i hate saying goodbye…so much so, that i usually barely even do. when i know i won’t see someone for a very long time, i usually say “bye”, in the same manner i would if i was going to the grocery store to pick up some hummus. it’s quick, it’s sweet, it’s not sad. i mean, i will be right back. only in this case, the ‘right’, is pretty much relative.

so it’s time to say ‘be right back’ to my roommates. i think a time of reminiscing is appropriate here, so when we start to feel sad about the separate ways that we all eventually go, we can think back and laugh.

and no worries, i will try really hard NOT to embarrass anyone… though i can think of some really funny stories involving- the not using of razors and purple sweatshirt/dresses. i still laugh about this randomly.

also, driving to school in 5 degree weather with the windows down. why? you totally know.

then there was the recent night when after painting mini canvases, we decided our kitchen table needed a little more color. now our table is full of what i call “girl graffiti”.  there are hearts, flowers, a random horse, a bird with disproportionate legs, and “ben + alison = love 4 eva” tagged. it’s quite a sight, and i will be sad to not see it.

but when you get real sad, think of men who hate having their bangs cut- they will  both randomly and continuously shout while everyone else is studying or pretending to be studying; “I HATE MY HAIR!”

tall beautiful blond women are apparently very persuasive.

…or there’s our exercise bike.

i think it was bekah’s grandparent’s bike from the 50’s? not sure, but it’s real old. back in the day, i think things were made to last, so our little exercise bike, keeps on going, and we sporadically keep using it. as good as it is for a workout, there’s one thing it might be even better for. and that- is a chair. maybe it’s because i’m short. maybe it’s because i’m fidgety. maybe it’s because i love biking, and it makes me think of my time in portland. but whatever the reason. i prefer sitting on the bike to the floor-couch.

it’s like a bar stool with pedals. awesome.

so there we were one night hanging out… and because i use the bike for a chair, it seemed perfectly reasonable for me to sit in it while eating chocolate and  drinking red wine- look! no hands! (yes, i’m that talented!)  i didn’t honestly think that my simultaneous pedaling/eating would cancel out my sugar consumption, but for whatever reason, like i said, it seemed like a good idea… not weird at all. i was alone in that thought. apparently, sitting on your stool/bike while eating food, is odd? it’s not like i’d do it at the gym, (unless i was real famished?) that’s my only defense.

so… happy memories, good times, and hooray for social networks that allow us to be nosey without guilt and stay superficially connected!

“freedom!” she shouted to the clouds… May 12, 2009

…as she exited the building; her anatomy and physiology class completed… forever.

yup, that was me this morning. i am SO happy! nursing school starts three weeks from today, so out of the 56 or so weeks  since i’ve been taking classes non stop to get my prerequisites done for nursing school, i have about three weeks to breathe.  i never thought this day would actually come. but it’s finally here, and it’s just as glorious as i had imagined.  and i imagined it a lot.

so this “preparation-for-preparation” phase of my life is officially over and i am now moving into the “preparation-for-career” phase. though i’m nervous as heck and scared, i am also really excited for the opportunities i will have during the program. i’m most excited about the birth companion program, since my goal is to work primarily with women as a nurse midwife and teaching preventive methods to people living in poverty in developing countries.

anyhoo. i’ll be blogging for my school soon. so i’ll be on here less.  you’ll be able to access it through the my school’s website->nursing->student blogs… i’m sure it’ll  only be like once a month with the busy-ness and all, but i’ll be writing about all the amazing things i’m learning and experiencing- things like, “i drew blood today!” (maybe interesting to you? haha!)  yay!

new page. May 6, 2009

current reads.

http://rachelreveries.wordpress.com/current-reads/

———————>

add some of your own too!

i have an awesome recipe for you May 2, 2009

tofu salad. in ‘go vegan’.

rescued. April 26, 2009

 our moguls came! the representative for our state senators, Justin Masterson a boston red sox pitcher, and news media all showed up, so 

we were officially rescued. 

the point of the rescue was to peacefully raise awareness and gather support from our government representatives to help end one of africa’s longest wars. 

starting at a park in the city designated the “abduction site”,  we were officially abducted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we walked in roped groups through the city to the “LRA camp”.

once in the commons outside of the state house (the LRA camp), we wrote letters to our senators and waited for our moguls to arrive and officially rescue us. we also wrote notes to current LRA abducted child soldiers.

one of the highlights of the night was to hear the story of Charles, a former LRA abducted child solider. afterwards i was able to introduce myself and talk with him. what a horrific, heart breaking situation, but how incredible that he was able to get away from the LRA and come to America to start a new life. when a ‘child’ is standing in front of us, in the flesh, the value of that life becomes so inescapably undeniable.  it’s impossible to be indifferent when you are literally  touching the hands and looking into the eyes of someone who has suffered in ways that i know that i can never fully comprehend. when we wrote letters to these children, whose ears  i hope and pray, they will one day be able to reach…

i want you to know that some of the words that people wrote were so beautiful.  we told them that they are not forgotten- we will not let them be invisible to the world,  and we were fighting for them, so that one day like us, and like charles, they too can be free. 

invisible children. updater! April 24, 2009

hey, guess what i saw when i was reading/watching the news today?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30376955#30376955

the rescue, is happening tomorrow! can’t wait to tell you all how it goes…

go vegan! April 22, 2009

check out my new page. ”Go Vegan!”

there’s a lot of debate going on apparently. enjoy!