Good News

My journey to Richardson Springs resort, near Chico, California began at 2:30 Thursday morning. I drove from my apartment to the Jackson airport and got on a plane at 5:45 AM. I had a small layover in Dallas and then flew another 3.5 hours across the West to California. I listened to Harry Potter on my Ipod and watched the desert become mountains. It was amazing. I've never really left the eastern side of the country so the vista was fascinating to watch. I found it so amusing that in the middle of miles and miles of desert there would be a lone mountain with snow on it's peak. I think I have it in my head that all mountains should roll together like the Appalachians do.

I landed in Sacramento and Wesley picked me up soon thereafter. We drove up a country road to Chico, passing cherry and pecan farms. The cherry blossoms were in bloom and looking very serene. Once we got to Chico we stopped at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. We toured a very small portion of the factory and then had beer and lunch in the restaurant. I had the Blonde and Wesley had the IPA. The food was top-notch, just what I needed after all my traveling. After meeting up with two more Vocatis, we went to the conference center.

Tucked away in a valley that conjures ideas of Ireland, Richardson Springs was a classic resort that had been converted to a conference center. The grounds were awe-inspiring and the hotel was creepy as hell. I knew that at each turn there was going to be a little boy riding his Big Wheel down the hall, or a set of twins asking me to come play with them. The elevator was at least 60 years old, the type that had a metal gate that slammed shut and a real door leading to each floor. After someone made faces and loud noises as Wesley and I passed the second floor, I starting taking the stairs.

The business meetings went very smoothly, lacking the drama that sometimes plagues anything Vocare. The community was strong and there was an all around good vibe the whole weekend (if you discount the creepiness of the hotel). My big news is that I got elected to the steering committee for Vocare International as an At-Large Representative for the next two years. I know that I will be involved with decision making for Vocare, but I am still feeling out exactly what my role is. I'm really excited to really get my hand in the pot and be involved with something so important. I am also so excited that this group of people had enough confidence in me to give me this position.

I have contacted the people involved with the Vocare in Mississippi and expressed interest in re-entering the community here. I went through Vocare here several years ago and have since lost touch with the local Vocatis. I am going to Jackson this weekend for a Cornerstone event (which is a sort of Vocare reunion) where we will do a philanthropy project of some sort.

I am also being confirmed on Sunday at my local church. I have been a practicing Episcopalian for years now, but my letter is still officially with the Methodist church. All of these new doors opening have really lifted my spirits. That combined with the amazing support I've been getting from Wesley has been the just the thing I need right now.

My photos from the weekend can be found here.

Oh. My. God.

It's not fleas, it's worse. I have bedbugs. It seems I passed them on to Wesley's mom when I went to her house so I could 'de-flea' my apartment. She knew what to look for when she started having problems. Wesley told me tonight and I did some research online. I don't just have bedbugs, I'm completely and hopelessly infested. Once I knew what I was seeing, I almost vomited. It's late, I'm tired and I can't sleep. I feel like I have creepy-crawlies all over me. Somebody help me.

Update

I got to see snow- real, powdery snow- for the first time. Saturday night it snowed in Asheville. Wesley and I had gone walking around downtown when it first started coming down. It was soft and subtle, and I dare say, romantic. We went to see Casino Royale (awesome, btw) later on in the evening and then stayed up playing poker (for chips, not clothes) until around 3AM when I noticed that the snow was really starting to accumulate. Wesley was so sweet. He put on his coat and hat and took me outside to play in the fluffy white goodness. He even let me hurl a few snowballs in his general direction and made a snow angel for our amusement. The whole experience was had a dreamy quality to it.

I drove home to face reality yesterday. My first class of the new semester was last night. I can't believe I am taking 14 (which counts out to 19) hours this trimester. I must have lost my effing mind.

This is the semester I have to retake Dosages and Calculations, the class that put me six months behind when I made an 86 on the first test thereby failing the class. Today was the second day of the semester. I spent all morning in class and all afternoon in the library. Then I came home and did some more work tonight. I haven't even touched my Dosages yet (don't worry, the first test isn't for another 2 1/2 weeks).

Not one to leave well enough alone, I am flying to California at 5:45 Thursday morning. I will drive the hour and a half to the airport early in the AM and I will be gone until Monday night. I am looking forward to the trip and seeing my friends that I met at the Episcopal General Convention last summer. I am also looking forward to seeing Wesley again so soon and getting to see what the other side of the country looks like. The furthest west I have ever been was Dallas, TX and Lincoln, NE.

Oh! And I got my grades in. I made A's in Pathophysiology and Professional Nursing. I worked very hard for those A's and was ecstatic to see it pay off. Claire, I made an 88 on the APA paper. All of my red marks were on the References page because I used the wrong style example for my online journals. Not too bad for my first APA paper, if I do say so myself.

Cool Animation

Check this out.

Proud Daughter

My mom and three other women held an art show last night at a neighborhood clubhouse in Jackson. It was her first time to show her work to the public. She has been painting like a mad-woman for the past several weeks and it paid off. She sold several paintings and got two commissions. I am so proud of her. It's wonderful to hear the happiness and excitement in her voice too.

Mom has been painting for about four years now. When I was little she worked with charcoal and pencil. I used to love to sit on the floor and go through her sketch books. I especially remember the mermaids. She has always had a natural talent and it's wonderful that she has polished it and is pursuing it so tenaciously.

I took pictures of her paintings when I visited her on Wednesday. They aren't the greatest quality photos, but I want to share them anyways.

Material Girl

Ever since women have been trying to assert their place alongside men in the professional world, fashion has been trying to make women appear masculine and powerful. When that doesn’t work, women go back to flaunting their breasts. It is an eternal pendulum. I think it is high time women remind men that we are more than a bag of bones behind a silk sundress. I propose these fashion changes for the militant feminists everywhere. Once the trends take off, I promise dig my mom’s purple power-suit out of the closet.

Bloomers

When women working in hospitals started being something more than glorified maids, the dresses became cumbersome. Imagine nursing in a full-length, pleated dress complete with a smock and a silly little hat perched on top of your head. Thus, women started wearing shorter skirts and bloomers. Bloomers do the double-duty of making a woman look manlier and giving men what seems to be a titillating sneak peak. It’s a classic one-two punch.

Shoulder pads

The eighties were Big for women. Big hair, loud colors, and shoulders like line-backers made sure that men understood that we were here to stay. Nothing said ‘executive material’ like being able to poke out the eye of your competitor with the corner of your business suit.

Powdered wigs

This fashion statement screams ‘Respect me.' Anybody wearing a two-foot tall mass of horse-hair and talc powder deserves the attention of everyone in the room. I commend the woman who saw the wig for the furry phallic symbol it is and put it her head in order to assert her place in society. I bet med compliance would sky-rocket if the nurse wore one of these every time she gave drug education. The patient would be awed into submission. Hee hee.

In case this plan fails, ladies. Here are some alternative ways to get what you want.

Corsets

A timeless way to say ‘I would give my dying breath just for a little bit of your attention.’ Works like a charm, as long as you can keep breathing until he escorts you to the boudoir.

Lace

Just like a woman, pretty, fragile, and not all there. I know… shame on me. I just couldn’t resist.

High heels

Heels let a man know that you are strong and talented while making even the shabbiest of legs look sexy. Again, the one-two punch.

This post was inspired by Ar-Jew-tino

Enough Said

Happy Kitten. :)

Was it good for you?

Don't be ashamed, my friends. I, too, had an iGasm when the new iPhone came out. I was taken in by the shiny touch-screen, the bold, child-like icons, and the ability to watch movies while I drive my car.

I decided before Monsieur Jobs was through with his litany, that I must have one of those glorious gadgets! I knew, in my soul of souls, that once I had the iPhone, people would just know that I was important and my life was SO busy that it took the genius of Apple to keep me organized, connected, and entertained.

Then I realized that the phone will probably weigh more than my stethoscope and I'll end up having to get it one of those silly gadget-condoms that protect it from scrapes and chips. That is a major loss of cool-points and I'm just not sure my fragile ego can handle that kind of damage.

For now, I will stick with my utilitarian Motorola flip-phone. It may not have bells and whistles, but it's got a ring tone and volume control. It keeps me in touch with my honey-pie and doesn't relent when I'm in elevators or subterranean vaults, on highways or under the covers. It always gives me what I need, the voice on the other end of the line. So what if I've got mail? I've got two computers that work just fine for that...for now.