okay...okay...

well...here it comes. and I am pretty much not ready, but whatever. monday is going to be the first day of clinicals. yikes! I am seriously scared to death, probably just because I am always afraid of new things, or rather, things that I have never experienced before. I don't think it helps that my clinical instructor has kind of freaked all of us out too. not necessarily in a bad way, but he is very upfront of what he expects of us, and it's a lot of stuff. the amount of information I will need to know every week is crazy. I know that in the end, I will probably learn so much this semester, but until monday, and probably even tuesday is over, I am just going to be stressed.

in other nursing related news, I signed off on all of the skills that we needed to know before starting clinicals. (good thing too, since they start on monday). some skills were repeats, or things that we learned to do last semester (like SQ and IM shots, insulin therapy, and doing caths). other skills were new, and they don't seem that bad when I am practicing on a plastic arm. I have learned how to start an iv, prime tubing, and access a mediport. mastery in most of the skills will only come with more practice, which is why I am a little afraid of going to clinical on monday. but we are not allowed to do most of the skills independantly at first, so at least my instructor will be there to walk me through it.

I finally figured out how to close the vent in my bedroom, so now my apartment, or at least the living room, can be a little bit warmer. for some reason all of the air was going to the bedroom, and I can't sleep in a hot room, so the whole apartment was cold. not anymore!

rory has learned that she loves being outside. the past few days I have let her go outside onto the balcony, and I just leave the door open a little bit. she really likes it, and now she goes to the door, parts the shade, and cries to be let outside. I think that she was really meant to be an outside cat...unfortunately. we have also gone for walks out in the courtyard a couple of times. I have learned that if I am trying to go somewhere (like to check the mail), that I need to go there first, and then let her walk back. this is because all she wants to do is investigate...and investigate everything.