Fleas

Did you know that Deacon's name at the Humane Society was flea?? Talk about not cool. Well, we had escaped his given name's fate until now...when I saw a bug on Deacon's fur last week. I brought him to the vet on Tuesday and they told me they didn't see any fleas, but flea dirt (flea poop) - proving the flea's existence. Great. I would MUCH rather be wrong.

You see, I don't mind blood and guts and gore, but BUGS FREAK ME OUT. So. They gave us a prescription to put on the kitty's fur, but I hadn't gotten around to it until THREE SECONDS AGO WHEN DEACON SNUGGLED ME AND THERE WERE TWO BLACK BUGS SNUGGLING DEACON.

Let me tell everyone out there that DEACON SLEEPS IN OUR BED.

So I wrestled Deacon to the ground and applied the tube of medicine. And the washing machine is now running. As it will be for the rest of the evening. I am so grossed out right now...this is NOT COOL. I feel like I have things crawling all over me, which I might. ALKSJLFLKWJSEJKSDNA Sigh.

Good For Them

Looks like Meghan and Cindy McCain are supporting the NOH8 campaign. GOOD FOR THEM!


And THANK YOU Meghan for including the Republican elephant - making the point that you can be a republican but not a "conservative," the way it's supposed to be.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Before I start, a brief whine: I don't WANNA start studying for my test! ::pout:: It's rainy and cold and gross and I want to curl up in a ball and start a new book. One that does NOT involve hearts or trach care or reading EKGs or starting IVs. Sigh.

On that note, several people have asked what books I've read so far in 2010. Here they are with a wee review:
1. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - FABULOUS book that traces the very intricate history of a very old book. Told through several points of view and time periods. I really liked how the story jumped around as it told the book's history (M did NOT enjoy that about the book).
2. Maus I - Great graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. If you haven't read a graphic novel before, PLEASE go to the library and check this one out. It's the story of the author's father during the holocaust. The Jews are mice and the Germans cats - nice.
3. Maus II - YES I'm counting Maus I and II as separate books, but it's MY personal book list so I don't care. I liked Maus I WAY better than Maus II. I feel like the author kind of lost his way and didn't know how to bring closure to the story. Which, if you think about it, makes sense - because how do you find closure with the Holocaust?
4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - I really, really, really loved this book. I didn't think I would ... but the idea of traveling around the world to find yourself (through gelato, prayer and love) was too tempting for me to ignore, and I'm glad I didn't. GREAT ideas in there about spirituality and finding your path to God.
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I try and read the award-winning young adult fiction, and this one didn't disappoint. However, it's the first of a triliogy (I think), which is always severely annoying. I liked the first one (loved the main character's voice), but I'm not sure I want to read the second one. The third one looks good though...
6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - A solid fantasy novel in the vein of Pillars of the Earth and a bit of Lord of The Rings. This book was given to me as a birthday present by our friend who has the whole series. YES, once again, the first of FOUR books, so we'll finish those off when I have more time (each book is 800+ pages!!).

So yesh. I guess I'll pull out my notes and start typing. Sigh. Community Health, here I come!

A Brief Glimpse of Spring

It is January 19th and there are birds chirping outside my window - quite loudly, actually. My windows are open and my fingers are only a wee bit cold (they are ALWAYS cold...unless it's mid-July, and then they swell). Sigh. This is why I love living in the South. Please feel free to remind me of that when it's July and 98 degrees with 90% humidity. Anyways. It's been about two weeks since I last blogged, and I think it's because we have done so much CRAP around here, and school started back and we had to take Christmas stuff down - YOU know. The reasons why January always flies by and then you're freaked out because Valentines Day candy is at the grocery store.

Oh well. I intend to make it up to you with lots of PICTURES. They are RANDOM, but so am I. So deal with it. K. First up - our bathroom ceiling is chipping. And not just a few widdle chips here or there. It's chipping EVERYWHERE AND I WANT TO SCREAM. It's actually chipped SO much in one place (Yes, I know I could make this a bit better by not taking scalding showers, but then what would the point of the shower be??? Hmmm?) that the giant chip is about to fall off. I took a picture for posterity.

Mom says not to worry, that the idiots who previously owned our home just painted without priming and probably painted with regular old paint (instead of that brand new stuff that is made for bathrooms), so it'll be fine. But it is still annoying. Actually, the whole bathroom is REALLY frustrating. Young House Love just renovated their bathroom (which, once again, is creepily similar to ours) and it's GORGEOUS - see here. Can they come do that here? They did all that for under two grand. Sheesh.

On another note - I want this buffet from Overstock.com. It's so preeeeeetty. It would be lovely in my dining room.

OOOH and I bought TWO pairs of shoes for under $50 at Off Broadway shoes - thanks to a birthday gift certificate from my in-laws. Thanks M & E!! Take a look at one of the pairs... S says that this picture looks like the cover of a romance novel. I agree.

Hmm. Things have been going on that don't have pictures: M is insulating under ALL the hardwood floors (God bless him), M insulated the pull down door to the attic and the front door (you could actually see light under the threshold before he started - and it was 15 degrees outside), I have read 5 books already this year, and I almost set the kitchen on fire last weekend. Yep. I was going to make tea, and turned on the wrong burner. The burner I DID turn on had a towel on it. Yup. Thankfully no lasting damage was done to the house or the stove. Sigh. So Yesh. More to come about school and stuff, but my fingers are starting to get chilled. =)

Overdue Books

Libraries are FABULOUS and they should be celebrated by all, and so should library books (I don't care what you say S). The ONLY problem with library books is the fact that you have to keep up with all the due dates! I currently have five books checked out from the library, and they have two differeent due dates. Not that big of a deal, I know, but I still want this beautiful 2010 Overdue Book Calendar.

Pretty, huh?
You can get the downloadable PDF for $4 on Etsy.com. I love Etsy... AND on a different note I love Julie and Julia - I just watched my mom's copy and just loved it. And of course, I now want to attempt beef bourguignon - it looks delicious! However, since it has a "difficult" rating I may put it off for a bit. =)

Umm, on the "Books" note...

I was skimming the Web for a picture of my soon-to-be-latest-read, People of the Book, and came across SO MANY blogs about reading. And if you think that 30+ books in a year is a big number, go look for those blogs. Those people are reading 100+ books a year. Sheesh.

However, I thought this one post over at Lizzy's Literary Life was funny: The Book Bag. She talks about not knowing how many books to bring along on her upcoming trip to California, which is a dilemma that I just encountered. It was REALLY hard, but I narrowed it down and brought only four. =)

It also reminds me of a present M got me for Christmas - this bag from Barnes and Noble. It has well-known quotations from many different books, and I only had to look up two. (I was quite proud) My husband knows me so well!LASTLY, there are a bajillion "Book Challenges" out there. I really want to sign up for some but 1 - I'm worried about my class load and 2 - i don't want to write reviews. Sooo I'll figure out this whole "Challenge" stuff a bit more and report back later. Anyways, I guess NOW I'll go start on that Christmas stuff...

Book Count: 2009

Well, 2009 is over and that means I must start a new "Books Read" list for 2010. Here's a list of all the books I read in 2009:

• Persepolis 2
• Free Range Chickens (SUPER fast and funny)
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret (BEAUTIFUL pictures, really good)
• The Children are Free (really interesting take on homosexuality and the Bible)
• Mother Tongue
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
• What is the What (Amazing book, amazing story)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
• Dewey, The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched The World
• Sula
• My Antonia (SO glad I read it, but I still like O, Pioneers! better...)
• The Stand (Made me want to read other Stephen King novels)
• City of Thieves (LOVED, LOVED)
• Pride of Baghdad (Made me cry)
• Marked
• Blue Bloods
• Twilight
• New Moon
• Eclipse
• Breaking Dawn
• Dune
• How Starbucks Saved My Life
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Another easy one that everyone should read)
• Love, Loss, and What I Wore
• The City of Ember
• The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
• White Teeth (FINALLY read Zadie Smith, and WOW)
• Born on a Blue Day

Total for the year: 31. That's three less than 2008's total...but I DID start nursing school this year...so give me a break. There IS a lot of easy-peasy fiction on there (Harry Potter, Twilight, vampire teen novels ... but once again, I was on VACATION in between school semesters and I needed something easy. Thankfully our book club meets this next week, so I 'll get 2010's list started sooner rather than later. I have a feeling this semester at school isn't really going to allow me much reading time. Sigh.

Also, this year I want to read more nonfiction. The Zookeeper's Wife was nonfiction - or really a nonfiction narrative - and both What is the What and Born on a Blue Day were memoirs, but that's it. My uncle M reads ONLY nonfiction, but I can't imagine doing that.

Anyways. I'm off to take down Christmas decorations! Woot woot!

This Sums Up How I Feel About Studying

Deacon doesn't approve of the constant studying, and neither do I.

GLEEEEEEEE withdrawl.

Dude. That show is SO effing good and I am SOOO EXCITED that Spring Awakening is coming to the Queen City in the spring - Lea Michele starred in the leading female role when the show premiered on Broadway. AND have you heard that Idina Menzel (Wicked, Rent) Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening) are both set to guest star on Glee in the SPRING???? Pant pant pant.

And don't get me started on how adorable Matthew Morrison. I only say adorable because he isn't shirtless all that often on Glee - which is umm a shame:
Yeah.

ANYWAYS. I just watched the fall finale for the second time in three days and I don't think I can wait SIX MONTHS for the show to resume. Sigh. Oh well. I guess I'll just stick with Modern Family and The Office and 30 Rock until next April. ::pout:: DVR is NOT helping me with nursing school, that's for sure.

On the home front - I bought a rug for the front door, we took down the nasty-ass green mini blinds in the kitchen and I put really pretty paper behind the glass in bathroom cabinet. However, I didn't study AT ALL for my final today. Oh well. There is always tomorrow! =)

1-2-3

(either The Jackson 5 or Britney Spears - your choice)

1 - It's freezing in my house, but I don't want to turn the heat any higher. I can hear my dad in the back of my head saying, "Put on a sweater!" Well, I already HAVE a sweater on (dad), but I guess I'll go find my robe. My dad's frugal gene is waaayyyy to deep for me to try and chunk it out of my genetic makeup.

2 - I had my second clinical evaluation today - this time with my new fave instructor. She was pleased with my progress, and thought that I was doing critical thinking with the information that I DID have (there is still SO MUCH more to learn...). One thing though - her last sentence of the evaluation said something to the tune of how it wasn't required in clinical for me to be so perky, and that I needed to learn that it's OK to cry with patients. I was like, ummmm can we talk about this?? It's funny because I was a cheerleader for one year in high school and I hated it - I hated this spirit fingers and the happy-joy-joy look we were expected to have. I am usually a sarcastic, semi-mean person who keeps it all candy coated. However, it seems that in clinical I'm PILING on the candy-coating, in order for the patient to feel better and/or for me to bury my emotional side. Then, I usually come home and disintegrate into a million pieces over something little. Welllll, let's just say that my clinical instructor was supportive and understood, but encouraged me to get it out throughout the day and not let it build. Sigh. I'm working on it.

3 - Mike has installed the hardware on the kitchen cabinets and has all of the bottom ones installed!!!! They look SO LOVELY - SEE??? As a reminder, this is what it looked like when we bought the house:
I'm so excited. Now if only we could get the rest installed, paint the walls, install the wainscoting, lay down new floor, replace the mini-blinds, and install the light over the sink... we would be in business!