I had to work Friday day shift. All well and good getting there but the snow started to come down around 4. My shift ends at 7:30. I almost wasn't allowed to go because they didn't know if enough nurses came in to adequately staff the hospital, but they did so I was allowed to go.

I didn't make it home. I ended up staying with my friends Jordan and Meghan and their new little baby Juliette who live half a mile away. Then spent Saturday calling up everyone in my family to make sure they were okay. Got woken up at random hours thanks to hungry (but very very cute) baby. Totally forgot that they switched my schedule on Friday that I would work Sunday instead of Monday. Got woken up Sunday morning 15 minutes after I was supposed to be in wondering where I was. Wopse. =/ Luckily I had been able to wash my scrubs from Friday.

Managed to get home after my shift on Sunday thanks to Dan's monitoring of the neighborhood roads and then digging out a parking spot on the top of the hill.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Work
I had a good shift! Or at least I had a better shift and was complimented by my preceptor. To be fair my two patients were stable, but I still got nearly everything done and walked out the door only half an hour after (much better than the previous shift where I walked out an hour and a half after). They'll be giving me some patients that are more unstable on Friday.

There is just so much to learn, but she complimented me and said that every area she tells me to improve on I try to improve. Supposedly there are people who don't even try. That's like totally crazy to me. Why would you not try to improve? Why would you want to work in critical care in the first place?

I think Dan is sick of hearing me complain about it though. I did the same thing at my last job. Doubted myself, worried about me killing someone, and then getting the hang of it and doing just fine. It's nice that he believes in me so much.

It's just this unit is INTENSE. Supposedly one of the craziest critical care units in the tristate area. I think this will be my most intense job EVER.

Wedding
My sisters (bridesmaids) hate the colors. They didn't like grey and purple. Then it was brown and purple. Then one of them didn't like that. So they want purple and hunter green now. I'm going to veto that. If they don't like it we can go back to grey and purple and they can go cry in their beers. I don't want to be a bridezilla and I really am trying to be reasonable, but I'm starting to think they will hate any color I pick out. And I have to pick out colors to go pick out linens and flowers.

BLARG!
Said maid of honor is actually supposed to stop by today, but I think she totally forgot. Called her twice even. I stayed home instead of going to get Video Game Live tickets for free no less. The symphony was offering a contest for free tickets with clues on where the tickets would be via twitter. After the first clue on Tuesday I ended up making my way down to the strip because I had figured it would be the closest comic book store to Heinz Hall. I had asked around to see if that was it. The employees all gave me weird stares. Guess where the super secret tickets were? Right fucking there. On one hand, I feel darn smart that I figured it out with only one clue and days in advance. On the other, Courtney you owe me. Reading the twitter they're all "ooh no one's here! Why can't anyone find me!" I hope an employee was like "oh there was this girl the other day asking about video game live tickets." At least I got to pick up some rice that I wanted while I was down in the strip on Tuesday.

Courtney you so owe me. It's definitely back to grey and purple. I don't care if I'm bridezilla. My wedding damnit.

Wedding
So changed my mind on the wedding color scheme AGAIN. Grey/Silver and Purple. Oh yeah.

Starting talking to the caterer. With the venue we have, we're forced to use their preferred vendors. On the plus side, they seem to be reasonable, and actually want to do something creative and different. Actually, I talked them into fried pierogies as an hors d'oeuvres. Particularly the kind Fat Heads serve. I'm gonna have Fat Heads' fried pierogies at my wedding. Haha. No no. I'm just adding a little "local flair", not because I absolutely love Fat Heads' fried pierogies. No no. Just local flair.

Supposedly it's also not a Pittsburgh wedding without cookies. News to me. Ah well. Can't go wrong with cookies. I could always be different and NOT serve cookies.

Video games
So speaking of Fat Heads, I've been doing the WiiFit to shape up some. I even got the new version, the WiiFit Plus. Cause you know, the Plus makes it special. Actually the newer version is kind of fun and it counts your calories and I know that the calorie counter is totally inaccurate but it's MOTIVATIONAL. I love the cycling game, but Dan makes fun of me for it cause you know, I could actually go out and ride a REAL bike. Like in the snow with the crazy drivers and Pittsburgh potholes.

Classical music
I'm a subscriber to the Pittsburgh Symphony and they try pamper their subscribers (particularly their new subscribers it seems). I went on a backstage tour and performance on Tuesday. I am convinced I'm a weirdo. When I was backstage Manfred Honeck (the music director and primary conductor) was there and my heart was beating as if it was like Madonna or something. Hahaha. I am a weirdo. After the performance they had a question and answer session and were encouraging people to get their younger family members into classical. "I'm sure most of you are not in your twenties." "*raises my hand awkwardly*"

Work
I still can't get around work well. They're setting me with the assistant unit directors as my preceptors while my actual preceptor is on vacation. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully it will turn into a good thing. Cause I really want to succeed at this job. It's just like...craziness! Seriously, that magnet is perfect "I battle the Angel of Death 40 hours a week. What do you do for a living?" And the past couple times I've worked like, everyone in the hospital has tried to bite it during the same shift. All at once. Craziness!

So I started my new job at the medical ICU in one of the big downtown hospitals, and I feel like I'm a nurse straight out of school again.

However I was definitely reminded that this is the job I want to do. There is so much to learn, and they really treat the patients well. I was starting to get a little burned out at my old job. If a patient was starting to go downhill, the doctors would either blow me off or pass the buck. My input as a brand new employee and relatively new nurse is taken seriously by the doctors and they sincerely want to do their best.

It makes me feel damn good that I can keep up with them intellectually. I can't quite keep up in terms of physically or organization wise or where the hell do you keep this/how do you do this/ I chart like that?! But at least I can keep up intellectually.

I still ended up crying over lunch during my last shift though. It's all very overwhelming. Dan says I shouldn't worry so much. It's my first week on the unit. It's hard not to worry though, and it is all very intense. On the locker next to mine someone had a magnet that said "I do battle with the Angel of Death 40 hours a week. What do you do?" and I kinda want a bumper sticker with that for my car.

In other news, I bought the dress. It was everything I wanted AND I supported the local economy. I can also say I bought my dress at the oldest bridal shop in the US. I'd post pictures, but Dan reads this and he's not allowed to see me in my dress til the day of the wedding.

I didn't do this meme last year, but checking out my archive I did do this the year before.
( New Years Meme! )

We have a venue and a date! WooHoo!!

Oct 30th of 2010. And no, the color scheme will not be Orange and Black. Haha.

The venue is a turn of the century mansion that was bought out and renovated by one of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time. He modernized it some, but very tastefully and preserved all the really beautiful parts of turn of the century homes. He was then traded off to the Arizona Cardinals, spent time there, and then retired. All the meanwhile he had been trying to sell the home to no avail. After retirement he moved back here because he originally grew up here and a pal of his was involved in catering and suggested that he rent out the home as a bed and breakfast and for events.

So long story short my wedding planner has a Superbowl ring.

Okami and Katamari Damacy make me motion sick.

Yet I can't stop playing them.

Maybe I should stick to non motiony sickness games like Animal Crossing.

But but....so fun!

I wanted to be one of those Life Flight nurses. You know, the ones that pick people up on the helicopters. Then I remembered how damn motion sick I get.

So one of the best parts of doing all my Christmas shopping online? Receiving packages! Even though I know it's not all for me, it's so much fun opening packages. My mother has a similar bug I think. She loves to buy $2 CDs off of half.com just cause she gets a new CD in the mail every once in a while.

I ended up receiving an interesting piece of mail as well. A hand written note from the symphony saying thank you for subscribing. I mean, I know the symphony is having a tough time what with corps not donating as much (Deloitte you mizers!), and bulk of their subscribers elderly and in the habit of passing on, but it still was rather surprising. Even the envelope address was handwritten.

Mail is so much fun!

Time to head out for the night shift.

Ugh. This is going to be a tough couple weeks. So I got the start date on my new job, one month away. Which is fabulous and also horrible and this is why.

So the reason I'm moving to a new job in the first place is that my hospital is closing down. It's a poor area that just wasn't making money or being utilized. So the big corp that owns it announced they were shutting it down. The whole community got up in arms, protesting and what not, but a lot of people started to want to be admitted there first as a hopes of keeping the place open. Ambulances started rerouting patients there.

Problem. Everyone started to find jobs elsewhere and are trickling out. So what happens when you have more patients and less staff?

Plus on top of that they aren't bothering to restock anything. We're running short on supplies.

Lots of mandation over the holidays right when people want time off. YEY!

If I wasn't already looking forward to my new job.

So (since we don't have cable or even an antenna) I never watch TV and then I also end up working most Wednesday nights, I never really knew much about the show Mercy.

Ah Hulu.

So if you want to know something more about what my job is like except less time to gossip and get into drama and more running around being everyone for everybody, that would be it. That's what nurses do. For reals. And Cloe's occasional wide eyed what the hell am I doing. Yeah. That.

Last night one of my patients went crazy out of no where. Sure she was positive for a UTI (those make old people temporarily nuts) but she was swinging. I'm not scared of the burly large men, it's the little old ladies that will get you. And she did actually, enough to break the skin. I didn't think about it at the time because I was too busy dealing with...well...crazy, that the nursing supervisor asked "Is your tetanus up to date?" So after my shift was over, I got my tetanus booster. Somehow it still always hurts when the insults come though from wacked out patients. This time it was "The demons will get you and I'll be laughing when they do." One of the (really cool) nursing assistants told me once a patient told her "I hope you die like a dog." and then she barked in response.

Nursing will make you so superstitious too. Dan and I were talking on the way in and I was saying how I'm going to try and enjoy the last couple weeks while my hospital is still open.

If you ever want to freak out a nurse say that "Hope it stays quiet"

Sorry, I'm ranty and tired.

I have a hobby of taking pictures of plants. I was inspired by llamrei's photo posts of some of the really adorable animals she works with, so I figured maybe someone else would like to see some of the pictures I've taken. They aren't nearly as cute, but I think they're pretty none the less.

( Fall Flowers )

Waa! I got a new job! One of the big downtown ICUs.

I'm going to be running with the big dogs too. Some of the sickest patients in the city, end of the line. Either up or out.

LOTS of machines too. It's crazy some of the equipment that they have. I love machines. Continuous Dialysis, Rotoprone beds, and every drip imaginable. I think they get some Bipass machines in there too.

AHHH! I'm gonna be running with the big dogs! And I get a nice $1 raise to boot.

AHH I get to work with all the crazy stuff now! Yey! Yey! Yey!

This has been a good week. I (finally) know where I want the wedding at, and now I know we'll be able to pay for it. And I get to work with cool machines! I'm gonna run with the big dogs! Oh yeah!

There's this Polish food store downtown that Dan and I like to frequent. It's one of the few places where you can get your hands on polish wares and fresh kielbasi, which as I've been educated is quite different than the kielbasi you get at the grocery store which is pre-smoked.

There is lots of Polish merchandise like t-shirts and such. My Hetalia brain wants to cosplay as Lithuania with a bright red and white "Polish Princess" shirt.
Useless trivia. Krakozhia, the fictional country Tom Hanks is from in the Terminal is actually a Polish brand that cans various types of food except it's spelled differently.

The symphony this past week was amazing. They had Chee-Yun as a guest in town and she played Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor and it was just amazing. Sometimes I stand for performances because everyone else does. This past weekend I stood because it was just that fantastic.

Mozart's Symphony No. 3 in D major made me laugh. I could see a punk kid writing a work that makes a wonderful waltz, get's people into the rhythm of it, and then stops the beat a couple times just to make the dancers awkward. I kept snickering a little during the performance and Dan didn't know why. Hehehe.

On more contemporary music, I have a guilty pleasure and that is Lady Gaga. I really like her mostly because it's so obvious that she isn't taking anything seriously. Half the lyrics are like dirty jokes middle school kids make up (Oh oh oh. Ride my pogo stick!) and the video for Paparazzi?! She's stumbling around sexily out of a wheelchair and then wears a outfit that looks like a half shaved poodle. It's absolutely fabulous. I'm sure she's probably a well rounded and mature woman and just having a really good time being celebrity man-meat.
Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga are my new OTP. WEE I KNOW I'M MAN MEAT BUT I'M HAVING FUN DOING IT! The SRSLY NOT SRS OTP.

So my interview went so well at one of the units I applied for that they scheduled a follow up shadow experience. They like to have you shadow the unit before you accept the position so you know what you're getting yourself into.

I'm kind of excited. The one unit I really like was the medical ICU downtown that got pretty much everything. They staffed well at 2:1 at most. It seems they have a pretty high mortality rate. They had a record 7 rotoprone beds in use in the past week (They're these crazy beds that flip you upside down when you're having really serious respiratory issues). I might end up running with the big dogs. I hope I can keep up. They staff everyone at .9 scheduling too. That means three 12 hour shifts for the week is full time. Yeah! I love that!

Get to get ready for work. 12 hour nights. I like them, but I don't like the flip flopping my sleep. Naps right before help and I got mine, but it's kind of lonely going to bed.

I'm still at a loss as to where to have the wedding. Dan and I both think everything will fall into place once that gets settled. After that it's all kind of fun. Food sampling, cake sampling, dress fitti- maybe I should wait a while on the sampling. Haha. I'm actually off on Thursday so I'll try to get as much done then.

Wii Fit is angry at me for all the Halloween Candy...

Dankun's the best guy in the world. Love you honey.

I found out yesterday that my city has a zombie march. I totally missed it this year. On Oct 11 anyone who wanted to could show up in zombie regalia and storm the Monroeville Mall (place they filmed Dawn of the Dead). Supposedly one of the places that has managed to beat out here in terms of the hoard mass was a place in England (England and your damn fairies!).

I want to go next year. If I have the wedding earlier than that, it would be pretty bad ass to be a zombie bride. They donate food to the local food banks too. ZOMBIE WALK FOR HUNGER!

Ahh can't sleep. Went to job interview after working 7p-7a. Well I slept from 2 til 6. I just hope I sleep well tonight to make up for it.

So I went to contact the Dr. Oz show about an episode they had recently with a family with porphyria to see if I could find a copy of the show somehow.

Their Sent Confirmation page had some strange script.
( Is this a halloween joke? )

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis euismod congue pulvinar. In cursus, lacus at gravida luctus, sapien est posuere orci, ut ultricies diam dolor at diam. Nulla vitae euismod eros. Curabitur porta dui quis odio elementum quis egestas tellus facilisis. Praesent dignissim leo orci. Sed sit amet libero

It looks like Latin to me. I sent it through some online translators and some words came through, but it's still not quite right.

Edit: Answer gotten and the answer is that I fail at geekdom. Filler Blah Blah Blah Blah.

Over dinner tonight The Clarks "So You Can Sleep At Night" came on. It seems both of us thought "this would be a nice first dance song." and then towards the end of the song I actually said it. I think it's a good sign since we thought the same thing.

Thus the first dance song will be The Clarks "So You Can Sleep At Night".

I like this method of making decisions.

Woo, Job searching~ I get to type up my resume for recruiters tomorrow. Wish my luck. I'm shooting for an ER job, a NICU (neonatal) job, and a high risk pregnancy job. ER would just be fun and exciting and the area gets a lot of gun shot trauma and whatnot. The NICU would be fun because babies are cute and easy to clean but also require a lot of attention because they can go down hill fast. High risk pregnancy would be fun cause it's exciting cause so much can go wrong but birth is still beautiful.
Haha. The common denominator is that "so much can go wrong." I must be a masochist or maybe I just like the adrenaline rush and the feeling of confidence. I like the learn as much as I can.

Wedding stuff: I love facebook for finding out how to spell people's last names for my guest list. I'm horrible at last names.

Still no clue as to the location for this shindig. I probably shouldn't make reservations until I have a new job with which to know it will fit in the budget.

Dan and I have been dragging our feet for getting the TV set up. I don't mind too much as I don't really like TV. So I've been doing lots of reading. I just finished Darwin's Radio and then the sequel Darwin's Children. They were both good. Anyone on my friends list read them before?

One thing that's funny about the whole job thing. I ended up getting pounded by some TV reporters when it happened. So now all my neighbors are all "Saw you on TV. Sorry about the job thing." The first time they showed me on TV it was for all of 2 seconds (and my back for 5) 7 seconds of fame. Supposedly I was on a second time with more of the interview, but none the less. I find it funny. "Saw you on TV" FOR ALL OF 7 SECONDS! With my really messy job hair in the rain.

I've bought like 3 different wedding guides. A part of me still can't believe I'm getting married.
Now I get to plan a wedding! AAHHH!

I don't want a religious ceremony, but I do want it to be very elegant and tradition. Just without the religious stuff.
Problem. I've only ever been to one secular wedding. I have absolutely no reference.
What do I do! AHH!

It's kind of fun though. Planning for something like this. The one day in a woman's life where she can be the center of attention in a beautiful fluffy girly dress and wants everything the way she wants them and she isn't considered a bitch or immodest or full of herself. Though Dan is rolling his eyes as he's reading this. Oh well. HAHA IT'S WHAT YOU GET!

It's been like BAM Job, BAM House, BAM Wedding. We'll do our best not to have the next major BAM until after the wedding.

And here's a picture if you're curious.
( THE RING OF POWE- Ok it's just a pretty ring )

Need to pick out locations! And make a guest list! And make sure I haven't forgetten to call anybody! And research florists and DJs and caterers and and and AHHHH!!