Moving is not a fun endeavor. Especially not prolonged, drug out moving. That is exactly what I'm currently doing. Sadly, I don't even remember where I slept when in the past week. All I know is that in about the last two weeks I haven't spent more then two nights in a row in the same place. My little overnight bag has been perpetually packed. I've actually just been washing the clothes in it over night and then stuffing them back in again and rotating out my pajamas and socks while I'm at my school apartment. Anyway, the moving, it's not so fun.
When I'm at my school apartment, I've been trying to pack things to take to my Philly apartment every time I'm going there. At first this was easy and non-stressful and kind of fun. Then I looked at my google homepage and it said 7 days till furniture moving day. And only time for one trip to Philly between now and then. I've begun to panic. I have too much stuff to move on Saturday. I have to have everything out of the apartment by the walk through on the 20th. I currently am working in 3 piles: take to Philly, store at my parents, or toss/Goodwill. My major question in life is when I do I take the things to my parents? I think these are primarily going to be kitchen essentials and by nature of the fact that they are essential, I can't just pack them up and bring them home till I'm sure that I won't be there and need food. I don't know when that point is. The only thing that I'm sure of next week is that Wednesday at 3pm I will be graduating and giving a speech because I am number 2 in my class (yay!). I've survived nursing school, but somehow I can't handle a move.
This whole moving thing would be much easier if: 1) I didn't currently have possessions in 3 locations separated by an hour. It's hard to decide where you'll need things when you don't even know what you're doing. I currently have a plastic shopping bag of important papers that I don't really know where to leave that I'm shuffling around with me. It's a bad system. 2) I was moving out of a place where I don't have a deadline that is rapidly approaching. I'm not worried about the stuff at my parents. I can move that whenever. 3) I wasn't moving from one third story apartment into another third story apartment an hour and a half away. This makes moving a tiring and slightly exhausting ordeal. And finally 4) If I had some money to buy boxes or remembered to steal some from Kim so I could stop using random backpacks, suitcases, shopping bags, and tote bags from my closet. They don't call me the bag lady for nothing.
I'd like to say this will all be over soon, but really I have no idea when it will be over. The stressful part should be over on the 20th. And hopefully nothing else will go wrong till then.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Many Countdowns
This update is, as everything has been lately, sadly tardy. Much has been happening lately! I thought I'd give you a little picture of the things I'm looking forward to in the near future.
1) 5 days till my first nursing job interview at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
2) 9 days till my last day of nursing school!!
3) 11 days till Kim and I sign the lease on our new apartment in Philadelphia
4) 24 days till commencement activities a.k.a. freedom from Seton Hall
5) 30 days till I am completely and officially moved out of my present apartment :(
As you can see the next month is rather busy indeed. Since I missed posting this when it happened, I'll give you the update on the new apartment in Philly, because that's really the most interesting thing anyway.
On Friday October 12th I had the day off from class for "Fall Break." Whoot, one whole day. Despite what looked like a pitiful showing on Craigslist, Kim and I decided to schedule some appointments to go look at apartments in Philadelphia. We managed to schedule to see 6 apartments in various locations though out the city. The one with the most promise by far was one in Old City. But we'll get there. So we drove into Philly for out first showing at 9:30am. The apartment was ok but a loft and small and in Chinatown which smells. The next apartment we saw the old guy was randomly mean to us and the kitchen was from the 70's. Really. The next apartment was a bargain price and was actually a little better then we expected but by no means what we were looking for. The next apartment was the one in Old City.
It's over a fabulous used book store and just blocks from the major Old City attractions (think Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, etc.). The location is more fabulous then we ever thought we could afford. The first apartment we looked at was a nice size, had hardwood floors, but one bedroom was significantly smaller and had no windows. Bummer. Then the landlord mentions that there is actually another apartment and he just find out the guys deposit check bounced, so why don't we take a look? We agree and trot upstairs. This apartment is bi-level. Dream come true. It has a skylight and two big windows in the living area. The kitchen has a bar/pass-through into the living/dining area with cool pendent lighting that hands over it. The bathroom is large and has a lovely large mirror over the sink. The bedrooms are relatively equal in size with nice, equally large closets. And the rooms are not plain boxes but have interesting alcoves and angled walls as one might expect from a 200 year old building. There is a washer/dryer in the bathroom. The living area is on the top floor so neighbors cannot be upset about late night games of Wii tennis or DDR. Dogs are permitted and there is a nice fenced in park nearby to walk them. Each apartment has a 10x10 lockable storage closet in the basement. The only downside? The yucky navy blue industrial looking carpet. Oh well, we can buy area rugs. We leave the apartment, in love with both the building and the landlord.
We went to look at our last apartment and while it is perfectly fine, even nice, it just does not compare to the beautiful bi-level in size, amenities, location, or price. We immediately call the lovable landlord who e-mails us applications and after filling them out and dropping off our deposit, the apartment it being held for us. Unfortunately, the lovable landlord has given Mr. Slacker Bounced Check until 5:30pm to get his money in. We put our deposit in for either apartment with our first choice being the bi-level. Everything must be rushed because he is showing the apartment again at 6:30. We frantically exchange e-mails and calls until finally...we have the bi-level! Yay! The other apartment is also rented that evening. The following week we get e-mails saying that our applications (with the help of our parents as co-signers) have been approved and we can sign the lease November 1st. I am overwhelmed with excitement.
I'm helping Kim move the majority of her stuff in on Nov. 3rd. Which is also the day she takes her math GRE. Will someone else please tell her how crazy this is? I will probably be gradually moving my stuff in starting then with the majority being moved on Nov. 17th. Anyone in the area is more then welcome to lend a hand!
One of the most exciting parts of our new apartment is the fabulous location! Every month Old City hosts First Friday which is an open house for the many art galleries in the area. Music, wine, and cheese abound and with at least 2 art galleries on our block, it's sure to be hopping. It's also conveniently on our move in day this month! What a way to be welcomed into the neighborhood. According to Lonely Planet, Old City also has the densest concentration of liquor licenses anywhere in the U.S. besides New Orleans. See, you really do want to come help us move.
1) 5 days till my first nursing job interview at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
2) 9 days till my last day of nursing school!!
3) 11 days till Kim and I sign the lease on our new apartment in Philadelphia
4) 24 days till commencement activities a.k.a. freedom from Seton Hall
5) 30 days till I am completely and officially moved out of my present apartment :(
As you can see the next month is rather busy indeed. Since I missed posting this when it happened, I'll give you the update on the new apartment in Philly, because that's really the most interesting thing anyway.
On Friday October 12th I had the day off from class for "Fall Break." Whoot, one whole day. Despite what looked like a pitiful showing on Craigslist, Kim and I decided to schedule some appointments to go look at apartments in Philadelphia. We managed to schedule to see 6 apartments in various locations though out the city. The one with the most promise by far was one in Old City. But we'll get there. So we drove into Philly for out first showing at 9:30am. The apartment was ok but a loft and small and in Chinatown which smells. The next apartment we saw the old guy was randomly mean to us and the kitchen was from the 70's. Really. The next apartment was a bargain price and was actually a little better then we expected but by no means what we were looking for. The next apartment was the one in Old City.
It's over a fabulous used book store and just blocks from the major Old City attractions (think Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, etc.). The location is more fabulous then we ever thought we could afford. The first apartment we looked at was a nice size, had hardwood floors, but one bedroom was significantly smaller and had no windows. Bummer. Then the landlord mentions that there is actually another apartment and he just find out the guys deposit check bounced, so why don't we take a look? We agree and trot upstairs. This apartment is bi-level. Dream come true. It has a skylight and two big windows in the living area. The kitchen has a bar/pass-through into the living/dining area with cool pendent lighting that hands over it. The bathroom is large and has a lovely large mirror over the sink. The bedrooms are relatively equal in size with nice, equally large closets. And the rooms are not plain boxes but have interesting alcoves and angled walls as one might expect from a 200 year old building. There is a washer/dryer in the bathroom. The living area is on the top floor so neighbors cannot be upset about late night games of Wii tennis or DDR. Dogs are permitted and there is a nice fenced in park nearby to walk them. Each apartment has a 10x10 lockable storage closet in the basement. The only downside? The yucky navy blue industrial looking carpet. Oh well, we can buy area rugs. We leave the apartment, in love with both the building and the landlord.
We went to look at our last apartment and while it is perfectly fine, even nice, it just does not compare to the beautiful bi-level in size, amenities, location, or price. We immediately call the lovable landlord who e-mails us applications and after filling them out and dropping off our deposit, the apartment it being held for us. Unfortunately, the lovable landlord has given Mr. Slacker Bounced Check until 5:30pm to get his money in. We put our deposit in for either apartment with our first choice being the bi-level. Everything must be rushed because he is showing the apartment again at 6:30. We frantically exchange e-mails and calls until finally...we have the bi-level! Yay! The other apartment is also rented that evening. The following week we get e-mails saying that our applications (with the help of our parents as co-signers) have been approved and we can sign the lease November 1st. I am overwhelmed with excitement.
I'm helping Kim move the majority of her stuff in on Nov. 3rd. Which is also the day she takes her math GRE. Will someone else please tell her how crazy this is? I will probably be gradually moving my stuff in starting then with the majority being moved on Nov. 17th. Anyone in the area is more then welcome to lend a hand!
One of the most exciting parts of our new apartment is the fabulous location! Every month Old City hosts First Friday which is an open house for the many art galleries in the area. Music, wine, and cheese abound and with at least 2 art galleries on our block, it's sure to be hopping. It's also conveniently on our move in day this month! What a way to be welcomed into the neighborhood. According to Lonely Planet, Old City also has the densest concentration of liquor licenses anywhere in the U.S. besides New Orleans. See, you really do want to come help us move.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A Week of Excitment
This week has been pretty...eventful. To start with, Monday I woke up with bug bites from my toes to my waist. This annoyed me all day and only seemed to get worse through Monday night and into Tuesday. Tuesday I washed all my bed linens and that seems to have taken care of the problem. The bites are so itchy and annoying I couldn't tell if I was getting more or not, so last night I circled them all to see if any new ones appeared. Then I decided since they were all so obvious now I should count them. Well I lost count somewhere around 70! I'm pretty sure I've gotten no new bites and the problem is now under control. There must just have been some bug in my bed. The only problem now is that they itch like crazy. I've been taking Benadryl at night to prevent myself from itching and today when I got home it was overwhelming. I popped a Benadryl and in 45 minutes the room was spinning every time I moved too quickly. I'm much recovered now, but the itching it back in full force. At least the problem is contained now.
Tuesday and Wednesday for my clinical I was in the ER. Tuesday was ok, but Wednesday was quite eventful. I got to insert two foley catheters which doesn't sound so exciting but is a major think you practice and hype up for in nursing school. Then, someone came in CPR in progress and we were allowed to do the chest compressions. While I wasn't happy about it, it was exciting and a great opportunity to practice a needed skill hands on. Way different then "Annie" in the BLS class. The weirdest part was when tje ribs cracked. If you're doing CPR correctly the ribs should crack (after all, you're pushing all your weight into somebody's chest to try and pump blood to their whole body) but the feeling and sound were very weird. It also made me very aware just how much power our little hearts have.
Today, we oriented at a home care agency for community health. It's a very extensive agency with many, many services. Listening to the different nurses speaking about their roles and their passion for advocacy for their patients really got me excited. It reminded my why I went to nursing school in the first place and where my true passion lies. (In case you didn't know, it's to hopefully go to a developing country and provide services and resources to marginalized women and children). I think the community/home care setting is really the area where I'm going to get the best experiences to prepare me for the kind of work I want to do. I think my clinical instructor thought I was a little crazy when I all but begged to go to the AIDS clinics. I'm really looking forward to the semester and it should generate some good stories.
In other news, I'm going to add two new kinds of posts to huruma. One I've been planning for awhile and they're going to be about my favorite, moderately healthy, easy, one-person friendly meals. I've tried cook books, but there are always too many ingredients or too time consuming so I've worked out some of my own (which usually consists of putting everything in one pot/skillet/dish) and I'll share them with you. I don't claim to be gourmet, but they're pretty good and pretty easy and won't cost you too much, time or dollars. The second kind of posts are going to be things I discover that I think are really cool and kind of want. I have a whole folder in my bookmarks of fun things I find and so I figured it's time to share them with someone. Anyway, just some things to look forward to. Happy Friday everyone!
Tuesday and Wednesday for my clinical I was in the ER. Tuesday was ok, but Wednesday was quite eventful. I got to insert two foley catheters which doesn't sound so exciting but is a major think you practice and hype up for in nursing school. Then, someone came in CPR in progress and we were allowed to do the chest compressions. While I wasn't happy about it, it was exciting and a great opportunity to practice a needed skill hands on. Way different then "Annie" in the BLS class. The weirdest part was when tje ribs cracked. If you're doing CPR correctly the ribs should crack (after all, you're pushing all your weight into somebody's chest to try and pump blood to their whole body) but the feeling and sound were very weird. It also made me very aware just how much power our little hearts have.
Today, we oriented at a home care agency for community health. It's a very extensive agency with many, many services. Listening to the different nurses speaking about their roles and their passion for advocacy for their patients really got me excited. It reminded my why I went to nursing school in the first place and where my true passion lies. (In case you didn't know, it's to hopefully go to a developing country and provide services and resources to marginalized women and children). I think the community/home care setting is really the area where I'm going to get the best experiences to prepare me for the kind of work I want to do. I think my clinical instructor thought I was a little crazy when I all but begged to go to the AIDS clinics. I'm really looking forward to the semester and it should generate some good stories.
In other news, I'm going to add two new kinds of posts to huruma. One I've been planning for awhile and they're going to be about my favorite, moderately healthy, easy, one-person friendly meals. I've tried cook books, but there are always too many ingredients or too time consuming so I've worked out some of my own (which usually consists of putting everything in one pot/skillet/dish) and I'll share them with you. I don't claim to be gourmet, but they're pretty good and pretty easy and won't cost you too much, time or dollars. The second kind of posts are going to be things I discover that I think are really cool and kind of want. I have a whole folder in my bookmarks of fun things I find and so I figured it's time to share them with someone. Anyway, just some things to look forward to. Happy Friday everyone!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Boogie down
Friday has finally arrived! And Friday means...no classes! I've never had Friday's completely off before. And I'm totally loving it. I got up late, made waffles, and am currently relaxing on the couch. I really needed it. I've been trying so hard to catch up on my reading. I literally have hundreds and hundreds of pages of reading to do every week. It's slightly...overwhelming. But I think now I'm only a week behind instead of two. Now that's progress.
Now that I'm pretty well settled in to my apartment, I'm still absolutely loving it. It's just so peaceful and comfortable and homey. It still needs some stuff (such as a light in the living room and perhaps some chairs on the balcony) but it's practically perfect. I went home last weekend and it was so hard. I got all weirdly emotional when it was time to leave. Such a dork.
Despite all the chaos of this program, there is one bright spot. Dr. Sam, my pathophysiology professor. He's one cool dude. I love his class. He's so funny and it feels like being in a real class in contrast to some of my nursing classes which have been a little like...fluff. But Dr. Sam...he's from Egypt. And he has this awesome accent. And every time he says enzymes it gives me chills. I have to get some audio of him up here so you can understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, he's awesome.
On Saturday, I'm going down to Atlantic City with my roomie and some of her friends. It should be a pretty interesting time.
Now that I'm pretty well settled in to my apartment, I'm still absolutely loving it. It's just so peaceful and comfortable and homey. It still needs some stuff (such as a light in the living room and perhaps some chairs on the balcony) but it's practically perfect. I went home last weekend and it was so hard. I got all weirdly emotional when it was time to leave. Such a dork.
Despite all the chaos of this program, there is one bright spot. Dr. Sam, my pathophysiology professor. He's one cool dude. I love his class. He's so funny and it feels like being in a real class in contrast to some of my nursing classes which have been a little like...fluff. But Dr. Sam...he's from Egypt. And he has this awesome accent. And every time he says enzymes it gives me chills. I have to get some audio of him up here so you can understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, he's awesome.
On Saturday, I'm going down to Atlantic City with my roomie and some of her friends. It should be a pretty interesting time.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
The Importance of Being Ernesto
Now that I'm all settled into my apartment and (FINALLY) have internet, I get to update! Our move-in day was awful. We didn't end up getting in until 5pm. Christine got in an accident, I was so stressed and grumpy from the Complex just not calling us ever to tell us we had our CO...but once we got in it was ok. Verizon lost our account so our DSL didn't work and they were like well it'll take two weeks to get the account in so we can turn it on...and we're like UNACCEPTABLE. So we got cable. Finally. Yesterday. Most of the weekend was spent moving, unpacking, cleaning, and organizing. Did I mention the HURRICANE? We moved all our possessions in a hurricane. And our apartment is fabulous. I should not have even worried about it. Everything is working out great. Someday, once it's all really nice, I'll post up some pictures. I love my room. I love it, I love it, I love it. Roommate things have been perfect and she has some crazy friends whom I've met.
Living here is crazy sometimes. When we go downtown, it's like driving in to another country. The area we live in is predominantly Hasidic Jew and Mexicans. It's a very strange combination. You drive downtown and there are people everywhere walking and running and riding bikes. Except....they have on black suits and huge hats and prayer fringes hanging out. Everyone that doesn't fit that description and isn't a woman with an insane number of children in tow, is standing on the street corner, waiting for someone to drive by and yell out a job so they can get a job for the day. It's very differant and sort of endearing in a bizzare way. I've never gotten so many dirty looks from people while driving. I think it's the blonde hair. Or the fact that people just happen to run into the middle of the street frequently and then look at you as if Hello! How could you have the nerve to DRIVE ON THE ROAD? *Glare* I've only almost died twice. The weirdest is when the men push back their little curls so that they can LIGHT UP THEIR CIGARETTES. So strange. Today, we went into town to pick up plans from a building company for a friend of my roommates. The company is owned by Hasidic Jews. We walked in and everyone immediately turned and stared at us. We stood there. Someone finally looked us both over and asked if they could help us. Christine told them what we were there for. The girl looked at me and said "And you are?" I was just like...uh I..uh..with her! So we stood there again. Everytime someone walked by the window they stared at us and gave us the once over. I squirmed. Then from behind the conference room door came a whole line of men, who all glared at us. And finally we got our stuff. Then we high-tailed it out of there. The whole thing was slightly surreal.
Class has been very high-stress. Everyone FREAKS OUT at the drop of a hat. The "adult learners" in our class panic, freak out, and ask a bajillion pointless questions and tell stories. I'm like SHUSH just let the Prof lecture! I mean the poor Prof couldn't get through more then a bullet point without being interupted by a whole class discussion. It was driving me nuts! Plus out professor freaked out when we had a conflict with a room and went on a whole tirade about wanting to our PDA's to have sex with her PDA. I'm glad I don't have a PDA to "share fluids. The nursing professors are like...too nice to keep control. Today we had a Doctor for Pathophysiology and he kept wonderful control of the class. And things went smooth and questions were appropriate and moderate. It was lovely and normal and lectureish and I finally took notes. It helped so much. But I have SOOO much reading to do. Ok but I'm done whining now.
Living here is crazy sometimes. When we go downtown, it's like driving in to another country. The area we live in is predominantly Hasidic Jew and Mexicans. It's a very strange combination. You drive downtown and there are people everywhere walking and running and riding bikes. Except....they have on black suits and huge hats and prayer fringes hanging out. Everyone that doesn't fit that description and isn't a woman with an insane number of children in tow, is standing on the street corner, waiting for someone to drive by and yell out a job so they can get a job for the day. It's very differant and sort of endearing in a bizzare way. I've never gotten so many dirty looks from people while driving. I think it's the blonde hair. Or the fact that people just happen to run into the middle of the street frequently and then look at you as if Hello! How could you have the nerve to DRIVE ON THE ROAD? *Glare* I've only almost died twice. The weirdest is when the men push back their little curls so that they can LIGHT UP THEIR CIGARETTES. So strange. Today, we went into town to pick up plans from a building company for a friend of my roommates. The company is owned by Hasidic Jews. We walked in and everyone immediately turned and stared at us. We stood there. Someone finally looked us both over and asked if they could help us. Christine told them what we were there for. The girl looked at me and said "And you are?" I was just like...uh I..uh..with her! So we stood there again. Everytime someone walked by the window they stared at us and gave us the once over. I squirmed. Then from behind the conference room door came a whole line of men, who all glared at us. And finally we got our stuff. Then we high-tailed it out of there. The whole thing was slightly surreal.
Class has been very high-stress. Everyone FREAKS OUT at the drop of a hat. The "adult learners" in our class panic, freak out, and ask a bajillion pointless questions and tell stories. I'm like SHUSH just let the Prof lecture! I mean the poor Prof couldn't get through more then a bullet point without being interupted by a whole class discussion. It was driving me nuts! Plus out professor freaked out when we had a conflict with a room and went on a whole tirade about wanting to our PDA's to have sex with her PDA. I'm glad I don't have a PDA to "share fluids. The nursing professors are like...too nice to keep control. Today we had a Doctor for Pathophysiology and he kept wonderful control of the class. And things went smooth and questions were appropriate and moderate. It was lovely and normal and lectureish and I finally took notes. It helped so much. But I have SOOO much reading to do. Ok but I'm done whining now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)