Random blubberings...

So a lot has been going on these days, and I'm stoked that I finally finished my final last night!!! Microbiology...goodness me. I swear, half the stuff I learned was stuff I'd already seen on the Discovery channel!!! LOVE the Discovery channel, avid watcher, always have, always will. If I could watch that one channel 24-7, would I even need to go to school?

So school is done for the semester, I find out grades next week hopefully. Found out after the lab exam I was getting a B...SWEET!!! If I can hold that, peachy, if not, as long as I hold a C and don't have to retake the class, let it be so number 1(in the infamous words of Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek).

Next topic that gets me giddy...I made the nursing program!!! Oi-oi!!! You have no idea how much I've been freaking out about this! There were I think over 400 students that applied, and they only take something like 100...and I made it. I get to start the nursing program in the fall, and based off classes they offer in the fall, I will no longer be able to work downtown at my current job....which isn't so much a bad thing. Currently I work as a Clinical Research Coordinator...fancy talk for "I try to make sure people that participate in clinical trials are actually following instructions so we can collect data that will make an intelligent outcome of what the study is supposed to be submitting". If they have side effects from using a new drug or procedure, I collect the information. The stories I could tell!!! For example...those commercials about Cheerios and Quaker Oatmeal lowering cholesterol? We've done studies like that (I know we've done the oatmeal one because I helped work on it). Grape juice, though was previous marketed as full of antioxidants, ALSO was found to help with male erectile dysfunction (ladies, time to go shopping!). The birth control patch, though previously thought to be a wonderful alternative to taking the morning pill, turns out after time it increased blot clots in women, and was more dangerous than previously thought (look it up online, there's lawsuits galore). Let's see...Pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants, but the effects were only captured up to a 6 month time period, then the effects seemed to dwindle off. So if you're doing the pomegranate juice deal, be sporadic, or be on it for a bit, then take yourself off. What else...man, there's a lot to talk about...South Beach Diet is a good weight loss regimen, you just need to follow it to a T and incorporate exercise, as long as you check with your licensed physician first. We don't want anyone passing out from eating healthy and working out too much. I tell ya, the stuff I'm learning is classic!!!

Lets see...things that have made me smile in the past week besides finishing finals and finding out I was accepted into the nursing program: I saw a rainbow...it arched over my house...or at least it looked like it did while I was driving home from the train station. You know how everyone says they have a twin? Well, for me, everyone seems to know someone who looks like me, so it's no biggie. However, I saw a girl that looked like my twin in the drive thru at Baskin Robbins!!! I was getting a celebratory 2 scoop hot fudge peanut butter chocolate sundae with the works, when I swear that the face I saw in the side mirror in front of me looked like I was looking in the mirror. Seriously! Same blank stare, same facial structure, I almost jumped out of my car just to go up and see her straight on! Her image in the mirror was seriously uncanny at how even I thought she looked like me!!! Let's see, what else. I saw a Range Rover with a license plate that said "Big Legs". I literally laughed so hard, I almost hit the curb while driving this morning. Why? It was 5:30am and I was still not quite up yet (I know, and driving no doubt to get to work...the things I do for a paycheck).

Speaking of paycheck, found out I got a raise even though I transferred to my position in December...it was prorated, but hey, who's complaining? 7 years at the same company...3 weeks vacation a year!!! Too bad I'll be leaving in the next couple of months, but then again I think of the 15 hours I'll be saving from commuting downtown...man, that's a part time job just in travel! Thank goodness for public transportation, but no thanks to bad hygiene on the train...that's just nasty! What else, I'm learning new exercise through physical therapy to help strengthen my shoulder (please no surgery, if I get surgery, I'm screwed for the nursing program). I received Wave Petunias in the mail...free from a website on gardening that I signed up for last week! http://www.wave-rave.com/signupfanclub.aspx I got a BOX of these petunias, in Cherry Wave, Silver, and Hot Pink! If you look on the bottom of the page to this link, you'll see three flowers. Those are the colors: http://www.wave-rave.com/plant_info.aspx?phid=048601894004341 There's about 6 plants for each color, and these are the petunias that are the rave right now! They're the ones that are supposed to spread like ground cover, or drape out of hanging baskets...like the ones that the nursery's sell for $60+ a basket! I can't wait to get some dirt so I can plant them!!!

So tomorrow is Friday, and I'm even happier about that! I'm thinking about going out and hitting some of the early Farmer's Markets to not only find some goodies, but I'm going to be looking for some herbs to start up my herb garden on the back deck...oregano and basil are a must again this year, and I'm thinking about trying lavendar again, and maybe some chamomille for homemade tea...eh, we'll see. All I know is I need to get the garden completely cleaned out this weekend and prepped for plants in the next week or so...we actually had frost this morning, so I'll need to keep an eye on the weather and make sure I've got a tarp that can cover the garden if needed. Plus the raspberry plants have a mind of their own and are taking over the everbearing strawberry plants from last year...which are coming back thanks to putting dog hair around the plants so not only does it keep the rabbits and squirrels away, but the deer too!!!

But that's all I've got for now, I'm off to make the man some grub...only thing that's peeved me off today is when I ask him what he wants to eat, he says food. So I decide to make a stir fry, an he doesn't tell me previously that he's not too fond of the stir fry...then don't tell me you want "food", tell me you want something specific or I am no longer inclined to make sure you've been fed. If he had his way, he'd eat burgers everynight...oh well, I'm again thawing him a burger, and the stir fry will have to be for my lunch and dinner for the next how many days...unless I make some rice pudding and steam the veggies...and use the chicken for salads...at least I haven't thrown everything together yet, so I've still got MacGuyver type options I can work with...