Nine screws!

This weekend was the sweet little break between semesters here at nursing school. Looks like I haven't posted in a few months, and it figures. They keep me busy here. Last week actually marked the halfway point! I am halfway to being a nurse! It's pretty amazing. To celebrate, I had a major nesting weekend, where I stayed close to home (except for a 1 day side trip to Cincinnati for some shopping with a friend!) and fixed up the nest. I got little extension cords that I have been meaning to get so I'll have light at the kitchen table. I got a dish drainer, I polished my furniture, etc. It was awesome.

For my birthday I got myself a nice big mirror. I have always had those flimsy door ones that make you have skinny days or fat days depending on how it's leaning. I found this great one that is BIIIIG for only $50, so happy early 30th b-day to me!!

Then....I spent half of today trying to hang the thing. It's BIG. And I have no stud-finder, no power tools, I couldn't even find a tape measure. I ended up screwing NINE holes in the wall before I finally hung the damn thing straight. For a while I was questioning my decision to be a nurse--how can I take care of seriously sick patients if I can't even hang a mirror straight?? I laughed out loud. A lot. Then I was sad.

First it was cockeyed to the left, then to the right, then I just got confused and started punching random holes. I finally realized that my bargain basement mirror's hooks were crooked. Ah. Shoulda thought of that first. After that it still took me 2 more holes. But now it's great and my house is totally feng shui for me! Yay for weekends with no studying. My next post shall be in December!!

Craaaazy rain!

One minute it's hot and humid. Ten minutes later you step outside and it feels like someone has laid a hot, wet blanket across your chest. Then the lightning comes. From every corner of the sky. Every 15 seconds. No thunder. Then the wind, strong and blustery.

Finally, the rain. And MAN it comes down! In sheets, cats and dogs, sideways... all the metaphors that try to explain rain that makes umbrellas completely useless! The drops are so huge that when they hit the ground they splash back up as high as your waist. The drops are so huge that one drop on your head soaks your hair completely, and runs down your face and into your cleavage!

Where I'm from.... it doesn't rain past May!

Free concert in the rain!

This weekend I got to see George Clinton play in little old Kentucky! It was Louisville's 4th of July festival, and I swear, I am so taken with this little city. They find sponsors to host these free concerts at the waterfront--right on the Ohio river. For Derby week the B-52's were here, and there's been music pretty much every weekend since then. It's all free, and parking is incredibly easy. Beers are under $5, and you don't even have to have a wristband or wait in ungodly lines. It's unbelievably easy to have fun here!

Anyhoo, George Clinton played for hours on Friday, and didn't stop when the rain started pouring down. They didn't stop when the fireworks started, and they didn't even stop when the fireworks ended and the city blasted canned patriotic music trying to drown out the band and get the crowd to leave. It was great!

You look great for your age!

Seems like I have been getting this more and more lately, and I don't quite know how to take it! I mean, I know it's a compliment...but it also means that I am older than I look, which means that I look young but I am....old? Or something. I don't know. When I hear it I cringe.

Kentucky culture!

This weekend we had our first break from nursing school. It was a whole 3 days long, but it was really, really nice. I got to escape to Cumberland Lake in the southern part of Kentucky, and got in some boating, some drinking and some guns.

Lake Cumberland just happens to be THE houseboat capital of the U.S.! Some of these things are ridiculously obscene. They've got swirly slides coming off all which ways, some are 3 stories tall, with 10,000 square feet, and get 3/4 miles to the gallon. Rad. We didn't have a houseboat, but I was lucky enough to go with some friends that had 2 motor boats and could get us to the little inlets and creeks all over the lake. There was fantastic swimming, and I am 10 shades darker even though I wore 50SPF the whole time, AND a hat. That's a result of kentucky summer + portland winter. EEghh.

Anyhoo, friends brought guns. I mean, that's the thing you do in Kentucky. So I got to handle them for the first time-- I practiced with a bbgun, and a 22 gauge thingy. There was also a 45 caliber pistol, but I wasn't really into that one. It's noisy and kinda scary. We shot Miller Light cans. I missed 7 times, and nailed it on the 8th. I rock!

$20,000

So it's just 8 weeks into school, and my bill is already at $20,000! Not a problem, I know I have to repay this whether I finish or NOT!!!!

First Bill

Today I got the bill for my first semester of nursing school. It's thousands more than my car cost. On the bright side, I don't think that in 10 years it will be outdated!

Fire hooping!

Last night I met up with some fire hula hoopers in a park here in Louisville. It's a super small community, and were so happy to have more people join in the fun. And, they made me hoop with my hoop on fire! It was awesome! I was scared at first, mostly because I'm pretty sure my shirt was polyester, but also because the flames are pretty big. More details to come on that...and pics, too! But, I think I know what I want for my 30th b-day. No, not a fire hoop. An LED hoop!!! Yes, I want a hula hoop for my 30th b-day, and no, I did not mean my 3rd b-day.

www.hoopingharmony.com sells them, and these hoops in particular were highly recommended by the hoopers last night. I might actually buy myself an early 30th b-day present....just because hooping in November sux.

The picture is not me, but I may soon have pics like this! Oh, an LED hoop is just a regular big ol' dance hoop that lights up and looks super awesome at night. It's way less work than lugging around white gas and fire extinguisher supplies, and as far as I know you can LED hoop indoors too, whereas fire hooping has some logistical limitations, naturally.

Slow down movement

I was reading a fellow hula hooper's blog tonight, and I came across a post she'd written recently about how she'd been interviewed on TV for a movement she's into about slowing down and unplugging. Her post is here, and the segment is here. She's a freelance writer, etc., in Seattle. I like the message. I am constantly trying to simplify and slow myself down. I am not addicted to my computer or phone too much, but I want to cut down on driving, and I want to enjoy being NOT busy. I am constantly trying to plan something or make something or go somewhere. I need to be busy. I hate it. Living in Portland really gave me a glimpse of what it could be like to rely on walking for most errands, and it really slows me down. I love it!

Going to the grocery store makes me feel like a robot for some reason. Same with getting gas and really anything else involving waiting in line or traffic.
However, a quick bike ride to a farmer's market is therapeutic. So is walking to Walgreens. Somehow going slowly makes it more enjoyable. Anyhoo.

Kentucky Fried Hot Rod

Here's a pic of someone's sweet ride. These are all over here, and I don't quite know why. Brandon loves them for some reason, and fantasizes about lifting his 1996 Buick Park Avenue and sticking some huge tires under it.

51 weeks

I forgot to mention school started last week, and already it's flying by. So far, I am an awesome student. Being a student in my late 20s is way different than being a student in my early 20s, or even mid-20s. I am so prepared and motivated this time. Not that I wasn't before, but at Cal State Long Beach I was a different person. I went to class and got A's, but I read only what was necessary to pass the class. Now, I find myself reading ahead chapters, and following up online or in conversations with my dad, who's a nurse.

I also finally see what an advantage students who don't have to work while in school have over those who do. Throughout high school, junior college and CSULB I worked. Sometimes I took breaks, but I was always trying to support myself. I worked my ass off, putting in 12 and 16 hour days. No wonder I was an average student.

I am not working this year, and this will be the longest break from work I've ever had. My schedule now is roughly 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and nothing else to do but study! Oh my gosh, what a concept. Gee, I wonder if I'll pass?

It is kind of sad though, realizing how easy some people have it in comparison. I wonder if I'd had a full ride, would I have chosen a harder degree? Would I have excelled? Played sports in college? Gotten scholarships? Would I be going back a second time?

Eh, I guess we'll never know. But for now I will sure enjoy it, even though I know I'll be paying this off for the next 30 years!

Wino gone dry...

Ok I am not really a wino! But due to the lack of Trader Joe's here, my wine habit has been taking a serious beating. Here in Kentucky they don't sell wine at most grocery stores. You have to go to a wine shop or liquor store, where the cheapest of the cheap is $8. Ok ok... $8 is a cheap bottle of wine, I know. But as a starving student nowadays, I long for the $2 Chuck of ol' California. Boo hoo.

p.s., check out this blog. It has more information and more dialogue that you'd ever need on cheap wine and $2 Chuck!

Derby Day Disappointment

After weeks of hype, we finally got to witness the Kentucky Derby. For a full 2 minutes and 1 second of excitement, the entire city was held in suspense. Brandon and I got caught up in the action a little bit--we considered heading out to the Derby, but backed away from the crowds. We opted to BBQ at home and place bets online, but even that backfired when we couldn't get our online betting account to work.

So, we made fake bets and watched hours of coverage leading up to the Derby. Finally, a little after 6 p.m., the horses were off-- and a big brown horse named "Big Brown" crossed the finish line first. I had placed a fake bet on him, and with his 2.5 odds he won me $75 fake dollars. He was a favorite in the Derby, but had drawn post position #20, putting him in the very outside slot of the track. But his trainer was confident. This horse was undefeated for 4 of his previous races!

Brandon put his fake bet on a filly--the only female horse in the Derby--named "Eight Belles." She came in second, but as she crossed the finish line and started into a gallop, she collapsed. Both ankles were broken, and she had to be euthanized on the spot.

Two weeks ago we'd gone out to a fancy theater in downtown Louisville to watch "The First Saturday in May," a documentary on the Kentucky Derby. We learned that last year's Derby winner had suffered a similar fate--after winning, he'd gone on to run another race where he broke a hind ankle, and after many surgeries to fix it, was finally euthanized.

As I watched Eight Belles lying there on the track today, after witnessing all the pomp and shit, the crazy hats, the celebrities, the millionaires and the stretch Hummers that have been cruising around town all week, I thought, "Man, I am glad I had nothing to do with this ugly spectacle. I hate the Derby." Sure, it's been going on for 134 years, and I know it's good for the city and whatnot. And, there are many other sides to the Derby that I am oblivious to. But I also saw that these horses are pushed to their limits out there, and for what? So a bunch of drunk idiots and bored rich guys can place bets on them like a hand of blackjack? Is it really for the sport or even about the horses? If it was, then why would they name them after cult movies and sex positions and dancers?

Brandon says my Bay Area/liberal/bleeding heart background is coming out, and I shouldn't talk about things like this in these here parts. Maybe he's right. And, I can't complain to much-- I mean, I did just feast on a huge steak for dinner. When it comes down to it, how different is that?