Friday Dance Off: I love a rainy (Friday) night!

One thing I actually love about this time of year are the freak thunderstorms- especially at night. There's just something wonderful about curling up in my red chair and chilling at home with the rest of the Pack on a rainy night (except for the freaked out beagle and yellow dog who insist on being in someone's lap and the utterly insane hound dog who feels the need to bark back at the thunder)- plus I always sleep HARD, which hasn't really happened any other time since I started back to school. Speaking of which...

Through with Rotation 2!

Last day of Rotation 2: The Princeton Crew

Our early celebration consisted of bringing our Pack to Do Dah Day with some of their puppy buddies:

(BTW- the Great Dane in the background could use some prayers- Jonas is a sweet big boy with 3 joints already repaired and currently needing a fourth. His last surgery included a complicated infection, so any puppy prayers would be greatly appreciated!)

And last weekend's celebration also included my mom's birthday! I took her to The Chocolate Biscuit tearoom in Trussville and a little shopping at The Pinnacle. I had really wanted to give her a photo session for her birthday- we've been talking about taking pictures together for awhile, but due to current financial crunches, we decided that it will have to wait until after I start getting a paycheck again. So we settled for these:




Not too bad for the self-portrait-can't-see-the-view-finder technique, I guess...

Finally, today's blog title comes in honor of the rapidly approaching Music and Arts Week at Camp Sumatanga (long-story-short, it's the title of one of my favorite folk dances)! 5 WEEKS!!! I've been going to this camp for what seems like forever- St. Mark used to go there for family life retreat when I was growing up and I started going to MAW the summer after 8th grade... and been going ever since- first as a camper, then a CIT, Youth Counselor, Nurse Buck's assistant, and finally Nurse Buck's stand-in. I'll have an entire post devoted to this year's MAW coming in the next few weeks, but check out the website here if you're interested in volunteering or enrolling a camper:



Teaser photo: My Children's Division peeps

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Friday Dance Off and 101 Update

So the past three weeks have been a little crazy...

I spent most of the first two weeks doing end-of-the-semester classwork (careplan, research final, and Capstone planning... so excited about my project btw... that'll have to be another post though...) and preparing for our trip to Destin for the the ALANA Spring Meeting (#41 part a on my 101 list). The weather wasn't great, but it was such a relief to be somewhere besides a hospital! Not that I don't love what I'm doing... we all just needed a hiatus... even for a couple days. DBH and I stayed with 14 other people in a ridiculous 3-story duplex beach house, complete with hot tub overlooking the ocean:



Those of us that are actually SRNAs spent Friday and Saturday 7am-3pm in meetings about everything from pediatric diabetes to healthcare reform to nurse anesthetist fatigue while the significant others spent all day hanging out (real fair, right?) on the beach. But we went out to some great restaurants (the only real disappointment was Red Bar- the service was terrible, food was mediocre, they only accepted cash and wouldn't split the check, not to mention the tip snafu....)
But overall we had a fabulous weekend- see below:

The one pretty day:


I also managed to check #79 off my list:



Yup, that's sunrise.

And a few randoms:




In other news, clinicals are still going... alright... I've worked with some really great people and have gotten more independence in running cases. I still ask a lot of questions when I'm not sure of something, so I'm not ready to pronounce that I've accomplished #1 on my 101 list, but I'm getting closer and progress counts for something. I say "alright" and not "fantastic" because what happened yesterday... well... let's just say that it's amazing how a few unnecessary mean and hurtful comments from one person (surgeon) I only worked with once can cancel out all of the positive ones from all of the others (CRNAs, MDAs, surgeons, nurses, etc).

But I refuse to waste any more time being upset about it. A friend posted this on facebook last night and it couldn't have come at a better time:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education
will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge

So today I persisted... chose a room with a CRNA and a surgeon that I work really well with... and I had a great day.


Before I leave Sparky to today's Dance Off, I want to ask your opinion of something. See, I have a dilemma... August 7 is my 10 year HS reunion. Not to be missed, right? Well, the problem is that the AANA Annual Meeting in Seattle starts that morning, making attending both events completely impossible. So I have a choice to make: Old friends/"landmark" party vs. New friends/city I've never been to/great learning/schmoozing opportunity. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do, but I'm interested in knowing what y'all think you would do...

And without further adieu... Sparky:



Happy Weekend, everyone!