Five Question Friday -15 April 2011

Aaarrrggghh! It's tax day! Only not really because for some reason the government has extended the deadline to Monday, April 18th...go figure. I also don't really have to panic because my taxes are already done (as of Wednesday, that is LOL!) Seems like last year we had already filed, received and spent our income tax return well before April 1st.  Anyway, I digress...
Fridays just don't seem complete without those five little questions from Mama M at My Little Life! Feel free to join the fun if you please. The rules are simple: copy and paste the original questions to a new post on your blog then answer them. Pop back over to My Little Life and add your blog to the list so others can check out what you have to say about the questions...here goes. Feel free to answer any or all of the questions in the comments below.

1. What is your favorite sign of spring?

That's a toss up between all of the trees budding and the winter weather giving way to warmer breezes characteristic of spring 

2. What was your best birthday ever?

My sister might be offended if I don't say the surprise "prom" birthday party she threw for my 40th birthday, but I think my 25th birthday was definitely one of my favorites.  I was back stateside from my Peace Corps assignment in Honduras.  I decided to travel out east via Amtrak to see some of America and visit friends I had met in Peace Corps. So, I spent my 25th birthday footloose and fancy free doing the things I loved: traveling and spending time with friends.  They even hosted a potluck dinner on my behalf and someone brought home-made cinnamon ice cream! A perfect segue into the next question...

3. What is your favorite dessert?

Cake (7-up cake or white cake, white frosting) and ice cream. I'm not ruling out all of the other scrumdiddylumptious affairs...I love a good cheesecake, cookie, cupcake, pie or cobbler, too!

4. What is the best excuse you've ever used to get out of a ticket?

Remember that question some weeks back about being superstitious? Well, I'm going to knock on wood before I answer this one. I've never had to use an excuse to get out of a ticket. I did get pulled over once by Officer Jack, the police that had just visited the Parent's Day Out program where I worked. I thought if I painted a big smile on my face and greeted him with a sweep of my open-palmed hand in a circular motion and a "Hi, Officer Jack" like he taught the kids, he may have mercy on me. He was only pulling me over because he noticed my registration was expired. I had the new tag in the car with me and was waiting until I went to the dealership to get my oil changed so they could deal with the sticky mess of removing the old one and applying the new one.  Officer Jack reached in, swiped the old sticker off in one swoop, stuck the new sticker on and sent me on my way. No ticket (or need for excuses) involved!

5. Do you wake up before your alarm, with your alarm, or after hitting snooze several times?

I've recently discovered that I like the nice soothing alarm tone on my cell phone so I've been setting that.  However, I usually wake up before my alarm(s) go off then doze back off until I hear the chimes.

My House Stinks!

Hey, Everybody! I am so ready for spring.  I thought that maybe changing my blog background my help expedite the change of seasons.  We've enjoyed weather in the 70's for the past few days, but I think I heard a meteorologist saying something about rain and a cold front, so I don't think winter is quite over for good.
Anyway...I've survived three days on the unit--two days shadowing other nurses and one day taking care of a patient of my own.  My preceptor (akin to a mentor) will assign me two patients Saturday which will be a bit more of a challenge, but I'm ready!  I must follow my preceptor's schedule, and she works Sunday, Tuesday, Saturday, which suits me just fine except that I have to miss church and teaching my Sunday school class for the next 7 weeks :(.  I keep telling myself it's only temporary.  The Hubs is off on Tuesdays so we're able to get the kids to and from school without a lot of shuffling and drama.  My daughter, who feared she'd never see me ever again, is thrilled about this schedule.  Kicking the student mentality is still a challenge for me.  On my days off I feel as if I should be looking up medications, preparing paperwork for "class" or practicing putting together care plans or SOMETHING! It feels strange to just show up on the job and go from there.
On Wednesdays, we have classroom time scheduled for half a day.  This week a chaplain from Pastoral Care briefed us on where their office is and what they do for patients and staff alike.  I never thought of them being available to us (the nurses) as well as the patients and their families.  The chaplain dispersed prayer beads which I wear on my name badge.  I'll have to take a snapshot to share; they really are quite pretty.
This week's other speaker was a diabetes educator.  Diabetes is one disease that just confounds me and I'm always open to more information on the subject.  Nurse D actually made us all give ourselves an injection!  I was a little wary at first.  My hands were really shaking, but she contends that we'll be a little more sympathetic toward our diabetes patients who have to give themselves insulin injections if we've experienced it ourselves.  She said we could always demonstrate this for our patients...ummm, the verdict is still out on that one.  I guess I would if I really had to but I'm not too anxious to flush normal saline (salt water) into the flab on my belly in front of my patients.
Even though I don't have to go to work per se tomorrow, I do have an appointment with a plumber.  The carpet in my hallway is squishy wet from the hot water heater leaking (hence the title for today's blog).  Tomorrow is my first payday and guess where that check is going? *sigh* At least I can rest assured that more checks will follow and one day I'll even be caught up (with bills, anyway).
Now that I know my schedule and all, I'll try to incorporate more frequent updates and get back to visiting you all.  I feel like it's been forever since I've been blog hopping and I miss hearing what's going on with you.  I know better than to log on and get started because a few minutes quickly stretch into several hours, and I have a hard time breaking away.  Thank you all for hanging in there with me.  I look forward to visiting you all soon. Until next time...