'Tis a good day.

I'm grinning like a fool. I got the clinicals I wanted, my first choice!!!! Waaahooooo!!!I truly didn't expect this, as a LOT of people chose the same as my first and second choice, so I was actually expecting to get my third choice if I were to get any of my choices. But I didn't. I got my first choice and it works perfectly.

I'll be at Hospital M at the medical center hospital on Wednesday, which means I have to pick up my patient on Tuesday afternoon, which works out great since I already have classes that day, meaning I don't have to drive to the med center just to pick up a patient on a day I don't have to come for classes. Then Thursday afternoon until night I will be at Hospital L outside the medical center but it's not too far from my house, and I don't have to pick up a patient the day before for that clinical.

Oh, and I just got words today that my student loan has been approved.

I love it when miracles happen.

Syalalalaaa....

I am writing this from the very chaotic computer lab where it seems like every student in this building is here, either printing their schedules/syllabus/notes for all of their classes or bugging the IT people about putting their courses on Blackboard. Welcome to Spring 2008.

We picked our choices for clinicals this morning, but it's not a guaranteed as the location and time of many of the choices are crazy, thus leaving only a select few of "favorable" choices. I knew my first and second choices are the most wanted, but I have no other option but to submit them because I live in a suburb outside the city on the west side and the other hospitals are outside the city and on either the southeast or northeast side. So, I have to take my chances and pray I get the ones at the medical center, if not it'll be one hour drive for me to get to the other hospitals. Sigh, the downfall of living in a big metro area.

First lecture of the semester was okay, nothing out of the ordinary. I'm just trying to motivate myself back to the swing of things, ya know, back to the study routine. It's just that I forgot where I threw my self-discipline when I started winter break, and it's hard to find it now.

Preview to how the rest of the semester is like.

Guess what Miss Cee is doing this weekend before school start on Monday?

Studying!

JOY!

Not.

My Women's Health class has its first test a week after it starts, the Pregnancy Unit, which I believe covers about 10 chapters. The notes are up on the student page. Yes, already. I know, school hasn't even started yet. Those instructors are really dedicated on starting us up early, I tell ya.

So we have been told by various senior students that Junior II is supposedly the hardest semester and it's supposed to be the semester where they weed out the kids who aren't strong enough to make it. It is well known that most drop outs from the nursing program at this school have done so during their Junior II. With that looming over my head, I am determined to make it out--alive, preferably, so I'm off to have a date with my textbook this weekend. It came in the mail this morning, red and shiny--heck, with the price tag, it better comes to me shiny.

Oh, the mentor thing went well this morning. Those new kids, they want to know everything, I mean everything. Which prof. is mean? Which prof. gives freebies? Do we have to be naked for head to toe? Which shoes are the best to get? Which cafeteria sandwich is the best?

Heh.

To be honest, I was a little bewildered by some of the questions and even had to resort to the infamous critical thinking to answer those. YES! Critical thinking! I remember something from last semester, woot! Do I tell them that prof. appears mean but she's a softie at heart if you know how to talk to her? Do I tell them this about the hospital or that? Ya know, you want to be as much as a help to this youngins, but without giving too much information because they've got stuff to figure out on their own. Overall, we had a great time and my mentees wished me goodluck's as I told them I was going to study this afternoon. Aw, aren't they sweet.

Hi, I'm your mentor and I'm a little bit crazy.

I have just received the official list of advisers and mentors for the incoming Junior I class. It is official that I am on the rosters as one of the mentors, woo! This mentoring program in my school is designed to help the incoming nursing students who undoubtedly have a lot of questions and fears and in need of a support system, so as mentors we are available to answer their questions, advice, listen, and encourage the best we could. I'm just so excited to be one because this program has helped me so much before I even began last semester, just knowing from the beginning that I have 2 mentors that I could go to for help was a great reliever, so I'm hoping that I could do the same for the new kids.

I'm meeting my group of 4 mentees this Friday during their orientation, yay! And I'm so glad to have find that I am actually co-mentoring with a friend who was in the same clinical group as me last semester and the adviser for our group of mentees is one of our Pharmacology professors, who is one of the nicest-I'm not kidding-NICEST instructors on campus.

However, come to think of it, I'm a little nervous about saying the wrong things to these mentees, because that would be um, bad. "Yeah, I didn't really read the assigned chapters for that class, nah, that's too much, oh oops, not suppose to say that...." or "Yeah, I skipped her lectures sometimes, 'cuz ya know, didn't get anything out of her, I'd rather read the chapter later. Oh oooops...." So yeah, bad. It's like Joey on Friends when he didn't want to say the wrong things on a magazine interview so he invited everyone to stop him just in case, and he did good until the very end when he blew it, except that I'll be on my own on Friday and hopefully my friend doesn't say the wrong things either because having been in the same group, we kind of did these "bad" things together.....

So either we'd be the worst mentors, or we'd be the coolest mentors ever. I'm pulling for the latter.

Find me in the room with a lot of dummies.

If you need me between January 14th - January 25th you can find me at school, most likely either poking on the mother dummies or dangling the baby dummies. Oh, and if I don't look like my usual--and currently very well rested--self, that's because my schedule for Women's Health says I have to be in the skill lab every single freaken' day for the first two weeks of school. From 8-4 pm more or less. Surrounded by dummies, some of which are talking--or crying.

I'm working on being ready for this.

In the meanwhile, I'm also crossing my fingers and toes to get my first choice for clinicals. Please please please please please let me get the Wednesday/Thursday ones....

OH! Gah, I hate my status as an International student. Hatehate. First, they still wouldn't consider me as state resident even though I've lived here for eight years and have been paying taxes. I'm still bitter about paying the international rate tuition, which is doubles in-state tuition. BITTER, I tell ya. You better bet I'm praying really hard I get the loan I very much need to pay for school. But that's another day.

Today, I found out that I may have to drop one of my online classes because as an International student, I cannot take 2 online classes in one semester. One of those online courses has to have some kind of on-campus activity such as group meeting, or face-to face time with the instructor, or taking the tests on campus, and my instructor has to fill out a form. Of course with my luck, none of the instructors was on campus today and neither was my adviser and neither was the director of the program. ashgdahsfdaghdfaghfdghafdghfd!!!!!

It's not like I purposely chose to take those online classes, they're designed that way by the program and I have to pass both before I could continue to Senior I. Granted, they might, MIGHT, offer those in the summer but even if they do, my space there isn't guaranteed. Blaaaaarrrrrghhhhh!!!!! Right now I'm waiting for an answer from the Student Life lady on campus, who's heard that perhaps if I've already met the minimum credit hours required to maintain my status (12 hrs/semester and my courses for this semester are 16 hrs.), then an additional online classes is allowed. So yeah, now I'm just waiting, but come Thursday and Friday at the new students orientations I'm volunteering at, I'll be chasing the power that be people (namely my adviser or the head of the program) to help me fix this.

And it rained as I got out of the grocery store today. It's just like that Carpenters song, the one that goes "rainy days and Mondays always get me down...." Well, today it is Monday and rainy. Bah humbug....

Productive

Oh, look who's being productive today:

1. Loan application - check. Okay, almost check because the stupid security system locked me out when I was thisclose to finishing. Bah! Now I have to call them on Monday....

2. Preliminary online applications two 2 internship programs - check.

3. Letters of recommendation request to two faculties - check.

4. Look up required textbooks - check.

5. Order required textbooks - check. I cringed at the cost....

6. Find out my schedule - check.

7. Choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices for clinical days - check.

I still have agibizziliion things to do this coming week in preparation for the upcoming semester. I am excited and nervous at the same time, though it's a different kind of excitement and fear than that when I was about to start my first semester. This time, it's more...excited for what is more and scared because I know it will be harder and busier and more than likely more chaotic. Oh, and getting back to the swing of things after a month of vacation isn't exactly easy. A month of time off have rendered me quite lazy and useless, hah! Not complaining though, it was good to relax and veg, vegging is necessary every once in a while, I promote the vegging.

Now it's time to get this ride back on the road again, and as a result I have signed up to volunteer at the new students orientations. Yes, i know I've mentioned I did that already, but my school holds this series of orientations every semester, it's a bit too much but hey, anything to help out the new kids, right?

So that's that. New year is here and I'm gearing up for the new semester. There is a lot of exciting things that I'm working on happening this year, so I'm hopeful. For now, I'm going to rummage to the fridge for food. Food is good.

When you shout it in public for all to hear.

Best quote of the vacation.

Female: How is it that I'm retarded????

Heard at the Huntington Library/Garden

Back to the good ol' Texas tomorrow!!! I miss my bed.

Two-oh-oh-eight.

Hello 2008! 

Wow, it's the first day of the new year. Today has been...interesting.

I'm not going to lie and on my own blog and just going to write it as it is. My friend and I and her friends had dinner last night, and stayed in for the New Year's countdown. It was a blast, there were drinks, classic Disney movies, Kathy Griffin marathon, and heavenly chocolate mousse involved. Fun was had by all at the sleepover, and of course hangover also was had by all this morning. Also making an appearance to the new year is the panic of "OMG, who did I drunk dial/message last night and what inappropriate things did I say?" and the horror as we looked at the pictures from said sleepover. Yeah...it was fun.

Best food to have the morning after? IN N OUT. My first meal of 2008 was a number 2, animal style on the burger, from In N Out. It couldn't be better.

Right now, we're about to go to the happiest place on earth. Disneyland here we come, woot!

Happy New Year!!!

Reporting from LA

Ah, I love vacation. I hope you have a great holiday too with your loved ones. I spent Christmas morning packing for this trip, then a big lunch with my family, then moved my cousin's things into the Grands' house. My grandparents are surely loving the array of grandchildren living with them. Christmas night was spent at a friend's house with a fabulous dinner. Twas a good day.

So here I am in LA, and so far I have spent the majority of my time vegging in front of the TV watching entertainment news. Yeah, did you know Mischa Barton got arrested for DUI? Dang, getting jailed is like the thing to do in 2007. Also, I didn't realize how many entertainment shows there are out there, oh and not to mention the reality shows. Heh. 

I've been to LA last year and done the touristy things already, so this is the relax, chill, and do nothing kind of vacation. So far my friend and I have just been hanging out, I got a massage (amazing!) and she got accupuncture (I cringed but she said it was great) yesterday. OH and then IN n OUT! I love it, best fries ever!

Anyway, that's the vacation so far. One of these days, I'll go for something tropic. Miles of beach, the clearest sea and the bluest sky with an abundance of sunshine, sipping a drink from a glass with the little umbrella thing, hearing a faint sound of ukulele being played nearby.....

Save me.

So in 2007, my oldest brother and his wife welcomed twin daughters, and another older brother married. That means out of the three children they have, my parents have married two of them off and even gained grandchildren.

Do you want to know what that also means?!

They have one more they need to marry off.

Me.

And you know what that means?!

My mother's evolving into Mrs. Bennet.

I sadly informed that it has begun. She's in the early phase, not a full blown case yet but oh I have no doubt it will. She will become borderline Mrs. Bennet if I'm not in a serious relationship by the time I'm over 25, and she will be Mrs. Bennet if I'm not married by the time I'm 30.

Look, I could care less about this. I'm taking my time, no rush, but my mother? Oh sweet baby Jesus, give her PATIENCE this Christmas, will you?! If I were to stop the horror of my mother's evolution into a Mrs. Bennet, I have less than 3 years to find me a man and get us into a serious relationship. Otherwise, I'll start to combust from Mother's pressure. Can you say, boom?

My father, on the other hand, is perfectly assuming the role of Mr. Bennet. He's been calm and has not pressed on the issue, but I think that's because for the most part he's quietly thinking no one could ever fully deserve his beloved favorite only daughter.

Thank God, my parents live literally continents apart from me.