Unicorns and Rainbows and such.

I write a lot about nursing, and have written some about rivers, mostly because that's what my life has consisted of.

But now I'm gonna write about Unicorns.

Since I was a kid, I loved Unicorns. And now that Burning Man is coming up, we have actually created the Unicorn Ranch, which is a place for special hard-to-find people to be found. Maybe. If we like you.

It definitely will be serving pink fizzy drinks.

Watch for updates on our awesome camp. My sister and I are painting the artwork for it, so we're having fun with that. Will is getting an extra dome, and we have trampolines.
If you live in a cave, and don't know what Burning Man is, go here:
www.burningman.com

I can't explain it to you. For those of you who know, but haven't been, you need to come.
For those of you who know it was better next year... I can't wait to give you dusty hugs!

85 degrees and 70% humidity.

Here's what the ranch looks like now. I was just caught on my bicycle in a lightning storm about two days ago in the same place I took this photo.

What did I do? I (fortunately) was on the stretch that had cell reception, and just 30 seconds before called for help from Will. I had looked up at the sky before I left- "oh, clouds, not bad - in fact, beautiful" but 30 minutes later on my ride, they were suddenly dark and had that this-looks-bad kinda edge to them. Black and thick, I decided, hmm, I might make it, but I'll call for a pickup just in case... That was the one smart decision I made.

When I saw the first bolt hit the field about a mile or so away from me, I have to tell you, it was pretty shocking (no pun intended).
There is nothing in the world like realizing you are the highest point in the field, sitting on a piece of aluminum.

I laid my bike down on the road and ran 100 feet away for the drainage ditch, where I squatted for the longest 10 minutes of my life. No, there was no water in it.
At least when it started hailing, the lightning stopped.
Will showed up with a truck like a knight on a white horse. I think I became a member of every religion for about 20 minutes that day.

So, humbled and more educated on Montana thunderstorms, not 10 minutes later it was sunny and 85 degrees again.

The saying here on the ranch is, "If you don't like our weather, wait 15 minutes."
Yeah, I guess so.

Ok, other fun pics from the trip so far.
Here's Idaho:




And here are my friends in Bozeman, during the pizza-and-champagne evening we had. It also included PBR, never fear:




So that's what I've been up to. We also went to an airshow in Helena, MT - where we watched the Air Force Thunderbirds perform, and got to check out some cool helicopters and planes. The focus on the military here in Montana isn't too surprising; it seems like a lot of folks are middle-America Apple Pie, and a lot of the kids go into the Reserves.

That's Montana for now. Off to Glacier soon.

Relaxation and a Roadtrip.

That's a photo of my ultimate destination, where my honey is, taken in March of this year (it's a lot greener and warmer now).

Since the MEPN year has finished, I've been a busy little bee.
It's almost unbelievable that the year is done.

What's also unbelievable is the fact that I'm discovering as I type just how well pepper jack cheese cures a hangover. Delicious.

I drove from Reno, NV to Bozeman, MT yesterday. Why Reno? I used to live in Truckee, CA and the night before I hung out in Reno, we had a little BBQ with friends at their house on Donner Lake. I'm on vacation, make no mistake. Truckee was fun - low-key and chill, beautiful weather. I also embarked upon my first bike ride in a year. I refused to ride my bike in SF after a few friends were hit or run off the road by cars, so that's one thing I've looked forward to in Santa Monica; however in Truckee I used to ride all the time, specifically the 35 mile round-trip from Truckee to Tahoe City on the bike trail. Beautiful.

Some of our Truckee friends, disenchanted with the smaller size of the quiet mountain town, moved to Reno, where you can still buy a house with a yard without paying half a million dollars. Yes, you can pay that much, but by and large it's much easier to be a homeowner. Not that they are, but hey, the option is there.
In any case, Reno was a fun adventure. Nope, no gambling, but we met near the Truckee River kayak play spot, then went off to my FAVORITE bar, the Roxy Bistro which is located in the El Dorado. The Roxy has over 102 martinis on the menu, and I am all about good martinis. Especially when they're made with vanilla vodka, chocolate liquor and have a rim of white chocolate on them. Yum.
From there we ventured out looking for sushi, but, alas, Reno is the red-headed stepchild of Vegas, so that was difficult to find at 11pm on a Tuesday. Instead, we went to get an Awful-Awful at the Little Nugget, which was the most awesome place EVAR because it combined a burger joint with a bar, and there was Karaoke Tuesday to boot. Perfect for a band of lost river guides in danger of being too drunk who need food and have to be functional the next morning. The burger was huge. My friend Shelley and I split it, and then I proceeded to karaoke Don't Stop Believin'.
That was awesome.
I got up early Wednesday and had a beautiful (albeit slow) drive from Reno to Bozeman, fraught with greenery, wildflowers, poofy little clouds, and people driving 10 miles under the speed limit. Sheesh.
When I arrived in Bozeman, my friend Heather greets me with, "Want a glass of champagne?"
Um, yes.
Then she looks at me, "Oh, it's Veuve. Is that okay?"
Hell yes.
Thus began the evening of drinking champagne, eating pizza, drinking more wine, and me passing out around 1 wondering if I drank enough water (I didn't).
Hence I'm still horizontal, nomming on pepper jack cheese wondering if my friend (who apparently drank more than I did) is okay, and wondering if I should go get breakfast makings for her. Hmm.

I'm gonna start driving to the ranch where Will is this afternoon, which is a short trip, but I have errands to run for him (he's in the middle of nowhere), so I gotta get movin!

I love chillin' out!

Turning Seasons.

When you are in clinicals, or are working in an acute care setting, you will understand why I love that LOL cat.

Fall is here. It's getting colder, we're getting a little bit busier, although there are only four weeks left of this quarter.
Papers are due soon. The last time I wrote a paper? About 9 years ago, so the foray back into APA format has been somewhat like a jog down memory lane after gaining about 85 lbs. I feel out of brain breath. Make sense?

Someone said that MEPN is like running a marathon. Nah, running marathons involves sleep. A lot of people take "mental health days" here and there, and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree.
This last weekend I went over to the eastern Sierras with my best friend, and we camped out in Jeffery pines and Aspen trees that were golden with the sunset. We hiked around at 7000 feet at the same place my headlining photo is from, and there was no water in the creek. It was awesome, to say the least. I was reminded why I chose nursing as a career path- it fulfills my love for patient care and (hopefully) allows for having a life. I have to live outside. Have to. Non-negotiable. My boyfriend and I are already planning some backpacking trips once I'm out of school.

Wow, four weeks left in this quarter.
Four.
Then we're halfway done.

Today I looked around at everyone and just had this moment where I realized how much everyone has learned- people were so nervous, so unsure of themselves when it came to talking about patient care, not to mention actually doing it - and now everyone trades information and speaks to each other like, well, like nurses.
It's really really cool.

Since my last time in, I spent some time in the ED (emergency department to those of you who don't speak medicine), which completely re-lit a fire under my ass. I loved it. Working in emergency always ignites me, and I even got to do some charting under the auspices of my nurse preceptor. She challenged me to do an assessment on an ortho patient (yes!- easy, what I *always* used to do while patrolling), who had a bad bicycle accident. I did a full assessment, checking my patient's neuro function, asking if she could remember what happened, did she lose consciousness, etc. I assessed her breathing/ribs and cardiac function. I checked all peripheral pulses and cap refills, paying special attention to the one distal to her injured forearm. Very carefully, I wrote down my findings, scared shitless - I mean, it was on real ED charting paper from a major hospital, and my words become legal. After sweating for a few minutes, I figured, well, hell, if the RN I'm working with doesn't like what I'm charting, she can shred this and start over.
I got praise. I was stoked.
I also got to hold traction later, working with a doctor who had a gentleman with an obvious shoulder dislocation. We didn't get it back in. I've reduced a few of those in the field, and when I saw this one, I thought to myself, "Ooo. That's bad..." so when it didn't go I wasn't surprised.
We had such an amazing variety of patients: people with liver dysfunction, people in withdrawal, abdominal pain, an Acute MI (heart attack), that I saw only briefly on my way out when my shift was over- there were so many people in the room that I wasn't able to be a part of anything anyway.
I also inserted a Foley on a guy who was having a rough night. I'm sure that didn't help. The night was busy.
I'm not a night person, but I was completely awake. Our observations are only 3pm-11pm, but I stayed until midnight, ecstatic to be back "at home."

Other than that, I think the program has been relatively manageable this quarter. The final papers are kind of a pain, but they're almost done.
Back to back 12 hour clinical shifts are tough, and for each student they're tough for a different reason.

I'm thinking about doing a quick advice column for things I've learned with the MEPN year so far.

Sorry this posting is so disjointed but one reason I haven't written in a while is lack of sleep and personal time. I got personal time this weekend, but sleep is yet to come...
Oh yes, and Halloween is coming. No we don't get out early from clinicals.