The ABC's of Trip Planning, Pt 1- K is for Keeping Things Kooky- Drinks V-Z; pg. 197 + New Link

[glennbo123]

Just a very quick update before I start the orientation at the local hospital for my surgery observation on Friday.

Don't forget to take some Junior Mints (link to Seinfeld clip)

 

[afwdwfan]

I did much better than my last exam today! Back up to a comfortable B.

So does this mean you didn't kill anybody this time???

 

[Poolrat]

I was kinda surprised that you hadn't jumped all over that one!

I meant to mention this on mine - but did you enjoy a snow day? Don't think you got as much as was predicted but hope you at least got a break to enjoy a day off.

Just a very quick update before I start the orientation at the local hospital for my surgery observation on Friday. It's a super busy day!!

But thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I did much better than my last exam today! Back up to a comfortable B.

WHOO HOO!!!!!!! I knew you would do well.

 

[glennbo123]

I meant to mention this on mine - but did you enjoy a snow day? Don't think you got as much as was predicted but hope you at least got a break to enjoy a day off.

No, not really. The kids (and Judy) had an early dismissal yesterday and a 2-hour delay this morning. I worked a full-day yesterday and was one of the last to leave because I was trying to get something done that would've been near-impossible from home. (I was expecting to be working from home today.) Then overnight we only got an inch or so, so ended up going in to work. Boy, did they misfire on this prediction!

 

[Steppesister]

5:30- Up for bath, coffee, slipping on my super cool scrubs and looking over notes one last time for exam.

6:56- Leave house for 1/2 hour commute to school.

7:45- Arrive at college for 1 hour 20 minute, 50 question exam.

9:00- Finish exam with 90% score

9:03- Rant about exam to study mates and composes rate about how idiotic some questions were.

10:00- head to Del Taco to nosh on burritos to nourish body and soul.

10:30- Arrive at the hospital for Orientation for Thursday's OR Observation with plenty of spare time to obtain latte rations. Light on the sugar, please.

11:00- Sit in on a very mundane, boring session, only to come away with a parking permit.

12:00- Back to school for a med pass check off. A process that should have taken 10 minutes, but lasted an hour because my sweet Clinical instructor is a story teller. (Yes, I realize that probably feels like reading one of my threads.)

2:00- Checked in for my massage. I know a good bargain when I see one. $20 for an hour. It was too good to pass up, because I sat there until 2:30 waiting, got a half hour massage and ended up with a comped gig.

3:30- happy hour with my study gals. They are family. We laugh. We cry. What else can be said?

6:15- I check in for my 5:30 appt. at the clinic for a raging UTI (men, do not laugh or I will punch you in the face) and hope they can still see me. I figure it was more important to listen to and console the one gal who is teetering on not passing than making my appt. on time.

7:20- Still waiting.....

When I get out of here (with the antibiotic that I already know I need and could have saved a trip and co-pay if they'd not been over-regulated) I head to a town 40 minutes away to "research" my next patient that I will take care of on Friday.....

I am tired.

 

[Steppesister]

Thoughts and prayers sent for calmness and clarity so you can and WILL show what I know you have prepared yourself well for!

Thank you SO much, Marv!!

Let me get this straight -- you want us to pray for your ability to get under someone's skin? Seems totally unnecessary, but okay, if that's what you want.

I do that naturally, as you've skillfully stated.

So glad I wasn't when I read that. .....

Every QWERTY needs a bath once in a while!!

I was kinda surprised that you hadn't jumped all over that one!

He's losing his edge!

 

[Steppesister]

Good morning, Liesa. I hope yesterday went great and prayers for you today.

I did!! Thanks! 90% in this program is certainly not something to sneeze at for sure!!

Good luck Liesa!!

Thanks, Magadene!!

I just want to say good luck. We're all counting on you.

You can count on me. This week.

 

[Steppesister]

Well done!! Have fun at the surgery observation!

I certainly will!! Tomorrow's the day. I had often contemplated that that was the route/specialty I'd like to pursue... we shall see....

I'm happy to hear that you had a good exam today and back up to a B. Wishing you luck on the rest.

Thanks!!!! A cool 86% overall is just fine!! YAY!!

Great job!

Jill in CO

Thanks a ton, Jill!!

Fantastic!

WOOT! Thanks, Hope!

 

[Steppesister]

Don't forget to take some Junior Mints (link to Seinfeld clip)

That was certainly.....


refreshing!!




Well played, my friend.

 

[Steppesister]

So does this mean you didn't kill anybody this time???

All patients were spared this day. Thanks to a LOT of studying and a giant Smile from Yonder.

WHOO HOO!!!!!!! I knew you would do well.

Go me!

 

[MEK]

Oh Yikes! Your Monday sounds rough! Hope that UTI is well on its way to extinction!

Good thing your clinical site is close to your college because that sounds like too much driving around to me!

Hope your week is going well!

 

[disneygirlll]

Read through your pre trip report and now I’m bursting to come out and join in. (I don’t want to be prosecuted, or tickled, but that’s not the reason I’m joining.)

First off you have a lovely family and you gave a nice intro about each of them, and the wedding pics are very beautiful.

The reason I’m bursting is because I feel a bond with you. Not because I also like a tidy house, lasagna, and Disney World, but because I understand fluid and electrolytes, IV management, acid base balance, ADRs, and also ABG, ADH, ADL, through WBC and WNL. You see, I finished the stressful, yet amazing, experience of nursing school May 2014. (I started August 2012 at 51 years old. I felt I was too old to go through the pre reqs for RN before actually starting the 2 years of the RN program, so I went the LPN route. I sometimes tease with the idea of bridging over, but I don’t think my family could survive the sacrifices another 2 years.)

I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures through nursing school, and your Disney trip at the end. (and by the way, we went to Disney World right after I finished school in May….to celebrate and clear my head before I took my NCLEX.)

 

[Steppesister]

Oh Yikes! Your Monday sounds rough! Hope that UTI is well on its way to extinction!

Good thing your clinical site is close to your college because that sounds like too much driving around to me!

Hope your week is going well!

The whole week has been rough... a LOT of once in a while things, like exam, check-off, the one-time surgical observation, and a regular clinical day all fell in the same week, and I'm slammed. I just want the whole week to be done, so I can start studying for my next regualar exam.

But I gotta say it, today was certainly the bomb-diggity! I can easily see the OR in my list of considerations. I really had a fabulous time!

My script is working quite well. I only had to pee 10 minutes into the start of the 2 hour procedure.... instead of 3. Always an upside.

Actually my clinical site is about 25 minutes away. Not too bad, but certainly not perfect. But of all the ones our class was being parsed out to, mine is the cleanest LTC facility of the lot. I'm very pleased with the one I get to spend every Th. and Fr. at for the next 5 weeks.

 

[Steppesister]

Read through your pre trip report and now I’m bursting to come out and join in. (I don’t want to be prosecuted, or tickled, but that’s not the reason I’m joining.)

First off you have a lovely family and you gave a nice intro about each of them, and the wedding pics are very beautiful.

The reason I’m bursting is because I feel a bond with you. Not because I also like a tidy house, lasagna, and Disney World, but because I understand fluid and electrolytes, IV management, acid base balance, ADRs, and also ABG, ADH, ADL, through WBC and WNL. You see, I finished the stressful, yet amazing, experience of nursing school May 2014. (I started August 2012 at 51 years old. I felt I was too old to go through the pre reqs for RN before actually starting the 2 years of the RN program, so I went the LPN route. I sometimes tease with the idea of bridging over, but I don’t think my family could survive the sacrifices another 2 years.)

I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures through nursing school, and your Disney trip at the end. (and by the way, we went to Disney World right after I finished school in May….to celebrate and clear my head before I took my NCLEX.)

Oh. MY!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have you here and be able to get to know you! I have made some very close and wonderful friends here, who've moved into "real life", and this is how they've all started.

Thank you for all the kind comments about my family. They are very wonderful to have around.

Whereas lasagne and a tidy house are things to bond us, there are far more and better things I see. We need to talk. It is very apparent and a very real possibility that I may not make it very far through the 2nd year of the RN program. The very top students in our 2nd year class are failing out left and right- there seems to be a huge problem/ disconnect betweent the 2 years. New dean? Funky class dynamic with that particular class? I dunno, but I am seriously starting to gather intel on bridge programs given the very real possibility I may need to go that route.

I may even take the LP NCLEX and work a year before I go on, but that's late-breaking news that MY DEAR READERS are just now hearing for the first time. Time will tell....


See... you and I think alike! What better way to celebrate and to clear one's head than a trip to Disney??!!

 

[disneygirlll]

It sounds like you are working hard. Nothing wrong with a Plan B just in case, but you got this! (Will PM you later. Don’t want to bore your readers with this nurse to nurse talk.)

 

[Steppesister]

It sounds like you are working hard. Nothing wrong with a Plan B just in case, but you got this! (Will PM you later. Don’t want to bore your readers with this nurse to nurse talk.)

Your encouragement is warming! Thanks!

I'll wait anxiously for your PM.

 

[Steppesister]

"J" is for Just in Case You're Wondering...​

There are so many things to consider when planning anything. On a scale of 1-10, cooking dinner, for example, is about a 1. Figure out what everyone is in the mood for (which is pretty stupid, because in my household everyone usually eats what I'M in the mood for, unless there's a special request, and even then I reserve the right to deny it based on my mood and how long it's been since we've had macaroni and cheese- a staple since I started school), procure the necessary ingredients (that's joke, since I have time to shop about once every 2 weeks, and we eat macaroni and cheese bought from the neighborhood store anyways), and I actually find time to cook it (repeat dumb joke about having time, blah, blah, blah)... so yeah, basically no planning because it probably isn't going to happen. Planning a kitchen remodel takes a little more though, and although it's pipe dream way up high on the list of to-do's after graduation and the paychecks start coming, I'd probably put that somewhere around a 7 on the Planning Scale. We'll call this Steppe's Planning Assessment Tool or SPAT for short. Had any SPATs with your significant other recently?

Now, before I digress onto other more ridiculous things...

We are all well aware that planning a Disney trip when you only get to go every 5 years or so, rates about a 10. Or 11. Maybe even a 12. But just what things does one plan FOR? That is a very good question to be asked. One that's been asked approximately 127 million times, give or take a couple million, and that's only counting the Type A Planners who don't want to spend an hour and a half in each queue, way too much money on every meal, or end up with a parking lot view from their resort room.

So, I present to you a litany of Things to be Planned while utilizing SPAT. I also offer a couple of very important caveats:

1) These are listed in absolutely no order of importance; randomosity rules.
2) I reserve the right to throw caution to the wind in any (or every (highly unlikely!)) category and not plan at all. Also highly unlikely.
3) I also reserve the right to change my mind. It's my trip, and it's my way or the highway. (Really, I'm not that unreasonable unless you A) stand between me and my DoleWhip B) don't cry with me when we're watching MSEP, or C) tell me that the Donald ride isn't worth it- EVERY ride/attraction/experience at WDW is “worth it”. (insert chorale Amen!)
4) Lastly, I reserve the right to add up to 10 more categories of my choice, just because I can.

Now, onto the LIST “J”ust In Case You're Wondering...

1) Travel Dates- coming together, but not quite there...

2) Parks and Park Days- the framework from which everything else flows

3) Restaurants and the general eating plan- I can be a foodie, not gonna deny it. I can also be very happy with a pretzel for lunch if I have a FP. Love it, or I can politely show you the way out.

4) Resort- still WAY too many places I haven't stayed. Need to consider that this IS a massively important celebration of some pretty hard work, but also need to realize that I won't have made any money at my newly found career yet.

5) Souvenirs- This is about a 2 on the SPAT.

6) Adult beverage plan- kind of like ADRs, but these are ABPs. Remeber that.

7) Clothing and/or accessories. Want to look cute in all those photos, right?

8) Scents of the trip. More on this later because really, it deserves a whole post.

9) Touring organizational tools. That's a fancy word for my little book that I make with schedules, ADR #s, blank paper for notes, pockets for receipts, you get the gyst....

10) Extra info for things like non-park days that we'll do nice little extras like Yeehaw Bob or DTD stuff.

11) And BEST OF ALL DISMEET planning! We already have people onboard for WDW or BUST (phew, almost mistyped that- close call), Oct, 2016! Be there or be square.

I'm glad I've had a few minutes tonight to just hang out here! You wouldn't believe the insanity I experienced of last week. Seriously, I was kind of hating life there for a spell. But I think for now, I'm in a place that I can take an hour off and look at all of your lovely threads that I've sorely missed. If you are posting here, and I have not been to your hood yet, post your link here and I'll try to get over there ASAP.

Just for fun, I'll leave you with this:



Loves, Steppe.

 

[Poolrat]

No, not really. The kids (and Judy) had an early dismissal yesterday and a 2-hour delay this morning. I worked a full-day yesterday and was one of the last to leave because I was trying to get something done that would've been near-impossible from home. (I was expecting to be working from home today.) Then overnight we only got an inch or so, so ended up going in to work. Boy, did they misfire on this prediction!

Sorry no snow day- Did you get one the second time around? Sorry the last 2 were just me trying to find them on the "new " site.

 

[Poolrat]

Now caught up on the update and I see my post count is finally back. Hope things continue to improve.

The SPAT - Yes I know it well except mine is the P- pat or the PP-PAT

Sometimes on the home front it is about what is not exploding at the moment.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Whoa! Still trying to get how this new DIS works! They still have techno color so I'm happy! Where are our little smiley friends? Do like the "like" button!

We don't SPAT about Disney plans - we just do what Mama says. Well, mostly. A couple of times the group has strayed from said plan, and it wasn't pretty - so they've learned. ABP - love it! I think they should make in an option like the DDP for a Disney trip. They do it on crusie ships.

Keep up the good work - that pic reminds me that the last time I saw someone in that garb, I was in for a world of hurt.

ETA: I found them! All partying away under that innocent looking face at the top!