Really. It is hard. But, I love the challenge and I love my bike. I just wish I didn’t have to work, so I had time to ride it more, haha!
I caved in and bought the padded bike shorts, sigh. Hideous and embarrassing, but without them? ouch ouch ouch.
It also kind of sucks about the weather. It had been getting warmer, but this whole week, the high is only like 50, which is cold for us. My legs were freeeeeeeezing on my ride last night and my nose started to run. When I got back to my car, I swear my nose was chapped. Terrible.
Also, I feel like my cardiovascular system is just pathetic. I have to stop here and there to rest. And I have not mastered the art of grabbing my water bottle while in motion. I need to stop or I will totally fall, and I don’t even have clip on pedals. I know with practice that I will get better. It didn’t help that something on my bike is making a squeaking nose, sounds like rubber against rubber only when I move. It was driving me insane. I’m going to take it to the bike shop and let them figure it out. I am sure it is something simple.
Lately, I’ve been looking at youtube videos of triathlons. I always thought it would be so amazing to complete one, even a sprint. However, I hate/suck at running and have no real experience with swimming. I still want to do one though. In fact, my hospital has one in June. Based on my fitness level, I think that June is too soon, but I will definitely go as a spectator. There is also a Tri downtown in April…St. Anthony’s. I put them on my calendar (to go watch!).
—-
As far as work/nursing goes: bla. The last week pretty much sucked. On one day, I actually transferred two (all) of my patients and subsequently received two more. The second day, I had one of the sickest patients in the unit. She had literally 10 drips. It isn’t that I’m not confident, but I also do not want to ask too many questions. The other nurses assure me that I can always, always ask for help, but part of me is worried. What if I ask for too much help and then my manager thinks it was a bad idea to send me to days? I mentioned this to one of the charge nurses and she said absolutely not. Winter sucks at the hospital. On one day, I made it the whole 12 hours without seeming too overwhelmed, but then I just let myself cry when I got on the shuttle bus. I hadn’t eaten lunch and I felt like a failure nurse. However, I know I just have high standards for myself and am probably just being too critical. I hope?
—-
I just ordered some Glo Bars!! I’m super excited. I’ve been following Angela since the beginning, so I’ve been anxious to order some.
We arrived to the bike shop around 1:30 and got right into measuring.
It was kind of awkward, but of course, necessary.
I tried out the Trek 1.2 WSD and I LOOOOOVED IT. Prior to this, I had only been on mountain and hybrid bikes. The employee gave Mirza a huge ass cruiser to come along on the ride with me. He let us take them out and go wherever we want. The Pinellas trail was right down the road, so we made our way there.
wow, when I first got on the bike, I could not believe the lightness. I gave minimal effort and Mirza was left behind in my dust!! haha! Truly, I was nervous about the drop handle bars, but the bike was much more comfortable than I had anticipated. The bike shop owner left the seat lower since I’m still new and he wanted me to get used to it and not be scared or fall off!
The whole process was painless and no pressure from the shop at all. He said I could give it a few days, even come in ready to ride again, take it out all day and pretend that it’s my bike, they will put a water bottle on it, etc and really test drive it. I think that is awesome. But I honestly did not need that much time. I loved it. It is beautiful and comfortable.
I did not purchase padded bike shorts this go around, but after my ride tonight, I definitely will. Yow!
The shop offers 6 months of service on the bike. I go back in 30, 90, and 180 days for tune-up intervals.
Also purchase a helmet. Giro.
A water bottle.
Tire pump.
And with some maneuvering, it fits in my trunk perfect!!
This is my, “I’m not excited at all” face. Yes, I am ok.
Helmets look so dumb when you’re looking straight on in the mirror. I made Mirza take this picture, so I could see how dumb I look. haha. Hey, it is either wear a helmet or be hurt. And since I really enjoy NOT eating my food from a tube in my gut, I will wear a helmet.
Bike helmet box!
pump
I stayed within my $1,000 budget, too. The total came to $1,075, which I thought would be more. I am so happy with my purchase. Cannot wait to get out there and really go for a ride.
And now i need to work the next two days. bummer.
Things to purchase on Thursday:
-padded shorts
-something small to put on my bike to carry my keys and ID…any suggestions?
I’m nervous!
Mirza and I will be going to the bike shop around 1pm to find my new road bike. Of course, I need to try them out and what-not, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be purchasing something today.
I’m kind of bummed though because I work the next two days, so I won’t have much time to ride it, argh! But, I want Mirza to come with me and he has off today, so it kind of works out.
Thanks for the encouraging comments today, guys. I’m feeling a lot better about yesterday. I went to a total fitness class at my gym and I felt super strong and energetic, so I sweat out all of the bad vibes and invited positives ones in!
Some exciting things:
-My hospital has a scholarship available for a fully funded trip to National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition 2010. For those unaware, this is a huge conference that lasts from May 15-20 for critical care nurses to attend lectures, see products, communicate, etc. And this year it is in Washington, DC!! The scholarship requires us to answer a few essay questions, fill out forms about travel expenses, and a letter of reference from management.
My manager has agreed to write me a letter. She said that no one from our unit has applied yet! wooo. Everything is due February 19th and I’ll know if I got it by February 26th. I’m incredibly excited. I would love to attend this event.
—
-I went to a bike shop today and spoke with a worker about purchasing a road bike. I’ve only had mountain and hybrid’s before, but feel like I want to try something new. Personally, I do not like running, but want a good form of cardiovascular exercise, besides aerobics and boring machines. Also, I need a damn hobby!
I’ve always loved to ride bikes, and recent blog entries by Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point and Jenna from Eat, Live, Run have kind of given me the urge to get my own road bike.
They only sell Trek’s at this shop, so I am going to try a few out. I’ll be receiving some money from my parents and tax return soon, so that is how I will be paying for all of this (unless I decide it isn’t for me, but I’m pretty set on this). In case anyone is curious, my budget is under $1,000.
I’m EXCITED, but also nervous! I’ve never been on a road bike. I’m worried about the “feel” of the bike. The woman at the shop was extremely helpful and enthusiastic. She said when I am ready, come to the shop “ready to ride” and they will help me pick out the right sizes, etc and I can take the bike out of the store, even to the Pinellas Trail. They also do a fit test, too. She discussed how eventually I might get more into it and want a computer or clip on pedals, etc, but she made it clear that everything is a process and I do not need to rush anything. I mentioned my fears that the bike might not fit in my car, but she showed me how easy the front wheels detach; stating she owns a Honda and has no issues.
ALSO, they have a woman’s riding group every Saturday morning. That is definitely something I want to get involved in. Sounds like a fun way to meet new people. I told her I have goals of possibly in the future doing a race or maybe a tri–totally being ambitious here, but hey, gotta have goals, right?
Yesterday was probably my worst day in the ICU. And the worst part was that it had nothing to do with a patient being sick or me not knowing what to do, but rather–an extremely difficult (putting it mildly) patient. I cannot go into details, but let’s just say he was out of his freakin’ mind. He made me sick. I really could not muster compassion for this man. He was too manipulative and #$^%@#$^%$^&%$&#$!@#!!!!!!!!!!
My whole day was terrible because of this patient. I honestly cried a few times out of frustration in the bathroom. I hope no one saw, but I’m sure no one would blame me. I tried to handle the situation as well as I could, but I suspect I did not. I mean, it was impossible.
Also, I am beating myself up over a stupid mistake that I am afraid made me look like a goddamn idiot in front of people who I respect. The order read to give 20mEq of KCL over 1 hour times 3, but for some STUPID reason, I hung each bag over 4 hours. And his K+ was only 2.7, and he was on bumex and diamox. I just felt so dumb when it was revealed to me in front of the intensivist, my manager, med student, and 3 nurses. No one acted like it was a huge deal, but I’m sure they all thought I was retarded. I think I just did it over 4 hours because when I worked tele, everyone had peripheral IVs and you have to infuse it slowly. I know it isn’t a huge mistake, but I’m still beating myself up over it. I just feel so dumb. I don’t want other people to question me, either.
🙁
Anyone else have difficulty letting small things go?
I’m trying not to focus on it today, but I’m still feeling pretty down about the whole day.
February is my favorite and most important month of the year. For one, it is Valentine’s Day on the 14th, my (25th) birthday on the 17th, and most importantly, my SEVEN year anniversary with Mirza on the 22nd!!
—
Between my last post, I had one day off and then worked two more.
Remember the guy I helped to intubate? Well, I had him again on Saturday and Sunday. Actually, I requested to take care of him again because they originally had me with another group. It just felt right since I pretty much did everything for him in terms of what he had going on currently, and knew his entire history.
Poor guy. He had a ton of bloody secretions and he was alert through everything, even while on the max of precedex. Anyone else have a shortage of propofol in their hospital? We have to keep rationing it out and switching to other sedatives.
When I came in on Saturday, his eyes were stuck shut from eye boogers (that is the medical term, of course), so I helped to clean them up so he could open them. His peep was 10, so we did not SBT him that day.
Yesterday, however, we got to extubate him! yay! I was so happy for him.
He was hacking up so much junk all day and I think he even burst a vessel in his eye because it was bloody. He told me that no one else had cleaned his eyes like me and he thought that was why. He said he couldn’t even open his eyes. aw. And then his shoulder was killing him. He said that no one had turned him all night. I find that hard to believe, but I know the nurse was tripled over night, so you never know.
The best part was feeling how grateful he was. Everytime I went in to turn him or help him with anything, he would softly say, “Thank you so much, Nicole, for taking care of me.” And I could tell he genuinely meant it. The weird thing is that we’re still not sure exactly what is wrong. His bronchoscopy and cultures are all coming back negative. It could perhaps be a viral infection, but they have plans to possibly do a lung biopsy.
I’ll be interested to see if he is still there when I work again on Wednesday.
Some patients you truly enjoy taking care of, and then…THEN, you have patients like my guy next door. He was definitely ready to transfer. When you’re able to start complaining and being rude, BYE!!
However, I like to work the weekends in the ICU. It is, dare I say…quieter? I guess just in terms of not having to present in front of the multidisciplinary team. It is more informal with just the intensivist and charge nurse.
—–
Randomness:
Anyone ever have organic carrots picked from the ground hours earlier? You cannot even believe the flavor. They put grocery store carrots to shame (as in one tastes like a carrot and the other like cardboard). I love my CSA:
Wow, I don’t know how or why, but I suddenly have an influx of new readers! Totally cool. Hi, everyone!
Yesterday was absolutely insane at work. And even though I barely had time to drink (I’m definitely still dehydrated this morning) and I pretty much had to force myself to go eat, on my way home from work, I really thought, “wow, my job is so cool.”
To any experienced ICU nurse, yesterday was just a normal day. But since I’m still new in the unit and on days now, I haven’t experienced a lot of scenarios on my own.
When I think about tasks, they all sound so insignificant, as if they go in any sort of sequence when they don’t. Everything is happening together, all at the same time. It’s insane:
-2 patients
-Both with pneumonia
–Patient #1: s/p extubation, stable at her baseline dementia. no issues, except for some new CDIFF. Luckily, the RN on night shift placed a dignacare over night, so I had nothing to worry about…
–Patient #2: ICU day 4, procalcitonin (PCT) had double over night from 2 to 4. Intensivist was not happy about this. He was on antibiotics, so what the heck? We switched some things around during ’rounds. This patient was the best. He was getting out of bed to use the toilet (with my insistance that he call me first) and doing ok, but his respiratory status? Not so much. He was on 15 liters high flo and when the intensivist decided he needed a line and saw how out of breathe he was getting back in bed, he said he wanted to intubate him before it got too bad.
I felt sooo bad for this guy because all morning he was telling me that he couldn’t believe this was happening. And he even said, “I hope I don’t die here.” I was like whaaaat?!! stop saying crap like that (on my shift….kidding). He had a great sense of humor, too.
And then suddenly I was running around getting versed, propofol, succinylcholine, intubation kit, suction, calling RT, central line kit, etc etc. All through this, too, he has blood hanging because his H/H dropped from 9.9 to 7.4.
sigh.
By the time everything finished: intubation, central line wih CVP, vigeleo
Arterial line, bronchoscopy, foley, small bowel feeding tube, portable chest xray, KUB for SBFT placement…I had about 4 pages of orders and an extremely messy room!
But I did it!! The whole time I just kept telling myself, “you rock, you can do this.” I had help from the other nurses for sure, but I did it.
And I know if an experienced ICU nurse was reading this, they would think…”ok, that is normal, all in a day’s work.” And it totally was, and I loved it, but I am just proud and happy that the mayhem finally occurred because in order for me to learn something, I need to DO IT! I did it, and I even got out of work on time, if not earlier.
I am definitely a DO-ER! I’m a Kinesthetic learner. How ’bout everyone else? Do you learn best by doing (Kinesthetic), seeing, or hearing?
I think we’re all a mix of one or two, but have dominant ones. Especially when it comes to my career as a nurse, I’ve found that if one shows me to do something 34545 times, I will not get it until I physically do it myself. I also learn better and remember once I write it.
This morning I went on a 30 minute speed walk at the park. On the trail, I passed an old man and politely said good morning. He responded with good morning, too, but then he looked at me and in a very accusatory tone asked, “Why aren’t you in school!?!” I said…”um, because…I’m 25???”
hahahah, so apparently I look like a little school girl. Operation look older commences now! I can only imagine what some of my patient’s or families think, geez.
After my walk, I went to the gym in my apartment complex and worked on the weight machines a bit. There’s only 4 weight machines, but it is better than nothing. The room has bicep curls, leg lifts, lat/row, and a chest press (I think?). I went through the machines twice at 12 reps and then did ab work on the ground, which included 50 crunches, and some planks. There is also a set of 3lb free weights (oh boy…), so I combined the two on one arm and did more bicep curls. I should utilize my actual gym more, but I mostly like it for group classes.
I’m definitely not into machines; I love free weights.
I’ve decided I need to kick-up my exercise regime. I have 4 days off during my week, so I think I should be exercising 4 days per week. I want to do 3 days of cardio (bla!), 2 of weight training, and 2 of yoga. I went through my gym’s group classes and wrote out my schedule for the next week, so now I have no excuses.
I want to increase my muscle. I remember when I joined the gym about 2 years ago and within one month, I had gained 5 pounds of muscle. I felt and looked great. I want to get back to that. Honestly, even though I’m a little person,I consider myself pretty strong. Other nurses agree too when I help to pull patient’s up in bed:)
I’m picking up my vegetables from the CSA in about an hour.
Dinner tonight is going to be a recreation of the portobello sandwich I usually get at the greek restaurant, mmmmmmm.
Totally random question: Does anyone like bubble bath?? And if yes, what do you use? I ventured over to Target today for some bubble bath and looked all over in the obvious places, but found nothing. Not even for little kids with cute characters (no shame here). Eventually, I went to the baby/infant section and found some Johnson&Johnson bubble bath and body wash. I bought it. Says it is supposed to “help baby sleep,” so we’ll see if it works on adults, haha. In all seriousness–anyone?
Temperature today is a perfect 71. There is a slight cool breeze, but feels amazing. Not a real cloud in the sky.
I decided I need some Vitamin D, so I hopped in the car with my towel (sans shower) and drove the whole 10 minutes there.
It felt sooo nice, but once I sat down, I noticed a funky smell and saw a few dead fish. Perhaps there was a red tide? I stayed for about 10-15 minutes and enjoyed it.
So, one of my 2010 goals included starting grad school.
However, I may be delaying this goal until January 2011. Let me explain.
One of my goals when I entered the ICU was to become certified. For my own personal benefit (and the benefit of my patients, too), I want to be Nicole, BSN, RN, CCRN.. I kind of put that goal out of my head to start grad school because in order to become certified and take the exam, you need 1750 hours (about a year) in direct bedside ICU care. If I start school in August, then I would be just shy of this and I know I would not have time to study. PLUS, if I am going to apply to grad school, I think it would be beneficial to have my CCRN on my application as a boost to my acceptance.
In addition, if I want to start in Fall, then I need everything turned in by June 1st. Seeing as I have not been on my unit all that long, I still feel kind of weary of asking my manager/coworkers for letters of recommendation so soon. How can they write a genuine recommendation if they do not know how I critically think and act in situations? I want to give people time to actually trust me.
Based on this, my new goals:
-Spend the next year studying for CCRN. This is something I want to do. There is so much to know and understand; I know that studying would help to fill gaps in my knowledge base. I also think it will make me a better ICU nurse.
-I will be cutting it close with the one year mark, taking the exam, and applying for the grad program. All my info for the program needs to be received by October 1st. I believe I will have enough hours (1750) by the end of August or beginning of September. As you can see, this gives about a month, but I’ve read personal accounts that once you apply for CCRN, the okay to test was approved within 3 days. And since I am going to be studying for this months in advance, I think I will be okay.
Initially, I put this goal out of my mind because I thought, “well, who cares at that point? I will be in school and out of ICU and won’t be able to continue my certification anyway…”
But to me, it isn’t about the alphabet soup behind my name, it is truly the meaning of being certified in your specialty area. As an ICU nurse, I need and want to be the most competent nurse I am capable of being. I want my patient’s, families, and coworkers to trust me. Most importantly, I want to trust myself.
Either way, I will still be working as an ICU nurse for the next 2-3 years once I begin school, so I’ll still be getting a lot of experience, but I feel like giving myself this one full year of working would be beneficial to my overall goals. Plus, two full years of RN experience sounds a lot better on paper than one year and a half…
More benefits of becoming certified in my next post…
So much for a nice, calm first time on day shift for me!
But first, I need to say that just my three days off to turn my body back onto a day schedule were amazing. I immediately felt like myself again. It was as if a light has been turned off and now it is on. I have motivation and energy and a spark! I woke up at 7 in the morning and I was so ready to go! I missed that.
Back to my first time alone on day’s…it started off calm. I had two patients with the same exact problems: admitted with infected hemodialysis catheters who needed them removed and became septic, and were now awaiting new HD catheter insertion. Both needed their dialysis. Kind of bizarre how similar their stories were. My one guy was totally confused, but was pleasant, love that.
My other patient got an order to transfer out once I brought her down to interventional radiology for temporary catheter and then onto dialysis.
During all of this, there was a code on the unit and my manager was there all day. I kind of wondered if she was watching me, gauging how I would react in situations. During a second code, she asked if I would walk around the unit to make sure everyone was okay. The minute I stepped out of the room, the nurse next door frantically asked me to grab a suction set up, intubation, and to page RT. Alright…
And then, the craziest of the day…they aren’t allowed to give me three patients since I am still new, but they needed a 1:1 nurse for a new patient coming up from another ICU because he needed to be on a rotoprone bed! I have no training in this, at all. I knew my manager did NOT want to give me this patient, but she had no choice. These patients are SICK. My preceptor from orientation (aka: my ICU Mom) was like, “I cannot believe they are going to give you this patient. This is insane. I had to take a 10 hour class on this bed…” My manager felt that since it was at the end of the day, it wouldn’t be a huge deal and she reiterated that she would never want me to have this patient for a whole shift. Not that I’m incompetent or anything, but I simply just do not have the experience.
After I gave up my patient to another nurse, I spent about 2 hours with the bed representative going over how the bed works. Wow, I feel like I don’t need to go to weight lifting this week because I actually got a work out.
The bed looks like either a torture chamber or some sort of NASA device.
Numerous straps and buckles and controls.
I felt so anxious, I just wanted to go get the patient and bring him up! However, the bed representative was so helpful and reassuring. She kept saying how she would not leave me and I could call her day or night. Knowing that my shift was coming to an end, my fears began to alleviate.
My manager actually went up the open heart unit with me to help bring the patient down! The best part: I got report from my preceptor of my final semester of nursing school!! YAY!! She is so down to earth and similar in personality as me; sarcastic, etc.
In short, this patient was definitely sick. For those who have no idea what the heck this bed is or what it does: the basic premise is that it helps patients with severe respiratory issues, like ARDS. Basically, the patient goes into the bed (or…we put them in the bed) very tight, snug, and strapped in, and then the bed turns them upside down (prone) and starts rotating back and forth like a rotisserie. The purpose is to help perfuse other parts of their lungs and increase oxygenation to those other areas. That is the best I can explain it.
Here’s a video I found on youtube. I have no association with this video, I am only trying to show what the heck it looks like:
I don’t want to give too much info about the patient. He was young (30’s) with a GI issue and surgery that led to sepsis.
He was obviously on the ventilator…with 100% FiO2. He also had the following drips: propofol, levophed, neosynephrine, xigris, D10, bicarb, potassium, protonix…I can’t even remember what else! For lines, a swan, two central lines, and an A-line. Also, had a J-tube, G-tube, NGT, foley, Chest tube, JP drain, and blake…! In other words: sick.
Let’s just say, it was A FREAKIN’ pain in the ass to get him transferred, detangled, and assembled in the bed. Fortunately, the next shift had arrived, so the oncoming nurse (who happened to be my night shift preceptor) helped to set him up.
For this bed, all the lines need to be straightened (ha!) and placed in this wheel-device that turns with the patient and prevents everything from being pulled. All of that goes at the top of the head, while the foley, chest tube, and dignacare (or any fecal-management device) goes through the hole by the feet.
It took us about an hour and a half to get him mostly set-up. I left work at 6:45 (shift ends at 6), but I wanted to stay since we hadn’t gotten to the point of proning him yet. The bed representative and I strapped him in. The freaky-ish part is this handle that you have to crank, which moves all of the cushions in towards the patient, squeezing them super tight. You need to turn the handle until you cannot anymore. It feels like you’re going to just squish the patient to death!
When I left work, my legs hurt worse than they had in all of my life! I actually took an excedrin for them when I came home, and I never take medicine!
However, I can say that I did have a good day. Sure, I was nervous, but I learned something new. I feel like I need to be more confident and that is what I am going to work on. I need to prove to my manager and everyone else that I will survive on day’s and everything will be ok! I think that majority of nurses trust me and think I am competent, but I just need the experience. For the most part, I want my manager to be comfortable with her decision to let me move to day’s.
Third and last night at work tonight…and then on Tuesday I get to come back to a normal life! Yes, I am coming to day shift!~
Honestly, I did not like night shift at all. There were some pluses to it, like staying up later even if you had to work the next day, but besides that? Sleeping all day, eating at weird hours, driving to work when everyone else is coming home and winding down? ugh, so isolating!
And I never felt like I got restful sleep compared to my normal schedule. For instance, my body used to wake up at like 6-7 in the morning on it’s own accord on day’s off and I would feel great. Now? I wake up only because my alarm tells me and I still feel like I could sleep 12 more hours, despite the hours I already received.
I am nervous about working days’ only because they are busier with rounds, traveling, and more family, but I think it is better to jump right into that sort of thing instead of hanging around on nights and getting used to a slower pace.
I woke up this morning and decided to document my day of eats!
Normally, I would have oatmeal and peanut butter toast for breakfast, but I was fresh out of oatmeal, so I had to improvise.
I took the rest of my plain Oikos greek yogurt, the rest of the strawberries, mixed it all with honey, cinnamon, and Back to Nature Apple-blueberry granola.
And then of course, I had my peanut butter toast and a multivitamin. I just recently started to take a multivitamin, but honestly, I really don’t “believe” in vitamins. haha. However, I like to donate blood and my HgB had been low the last few times, so I figured I would try a supplement. But then when I went to the store, I just figured…what the hell, I’ll get a woman’s multi. I am just skeptical about the health benefits. I truly believe it is the entire fruit or vegetable or WHATEVER as a whole that makes it so special, not the tiny micronutrients that can be picked apart. Anywho…
After lounging around like a lazy person, I finally went to the grocery store. As you can see, there isn’t much in the vegetable or green department, but that is because of my CSA membership. I have tons of greens at home…
Lunch was left over home made pizza from yesterday. Here’s some action shots of Mirza making it. He honestly makes pizza better than anyone. It always tastes amazing!!
Carrying on, I had one piece of left over pizza, a romaine/ mix of greens from the farm with chick peas, feta, balsamic vinegar, and evoo. On the side were Jalapeno smokehouse almonds from Blue Diamond. I love those little suckers. I couldn’t finish them all though…
I spent the rest of the day running more errands (buying cat food), and then hung out at my mom’s house for a bit. I honestly wasn’t that hungry today. I don’t know if it’s because of my cold or what, but…
Before dinner, I had some more of the (un)healthy almonds…no picture.
For dinner, I had left over turkey bacon and I’m trying to use everything I have on hand, so I made a BLT and leftover apple-squash soup from the Clean Food cookbook. It was in my freezer from over a month ago and still tasted great…
There are absolutely no sweets in the house right now, which is just…disastrous, as far as I’m concerned, so I made some Butterscotch Brownies from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Had about 4 little squares of these…
There you have it folks. That was my most random day of eats. Since I work nights, I will be up until about 3am, so I’ll more than likely have more food before the night/am is over, like cereal..
I finally managed to get my shit together last night and complete most of the tasks on my to-do list. The most important was making a menu of meals for the week and subsequent grocery list.
I cleaned out the fridge and started to feel bad. I was throwing away so much unused food, even from my farm, which just crushes me. Every time I throw something away, I just see money going into the garbage. I just imagine literally taking dollar bills, fives, and tossing them away. Due to this, I attempted to make my food list based on what I have in my cupboards and fridge already.
Days in red indicate I am working. Obviously, this isn’t all I am eating, just my main meals. I don’t include snacks or foods I may be eating on the side of the meals, like vegetables or fruits. Also, I don’t normally schedule my lunch on days off because I just wing it. Work, however, is another story since I work nights. If I don’t plan, then I am forced to eat at the cafeteria. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the cafe has a lot of healthy options, but I’d rather not spend the extra money.
Week 1 of No Spend Month has been successful, if I do say-so-myself.
Working really cuts into my urges to spend and shop! haha.
To remind everyone, I only want to purchase essentials for the month of January. My goal in this whole process is to save and appreciate life without having to buy and consume mindlessly.
Luckily, I have three movie gift certificates from work, so that is helping in the entertainment department.
We’ve been eating in, of course. I had left over tomato sauce in the freezer, so we had that, among other things. I am realizing more and more how much food I do have at times when I think I have nothing! Creativity helps!
The challenge is to find fun activities that do not involve spending for the both of us. When I’m alone, no problem. I can read, surf the net, CLEAN, organize, etc. But when we’re together, it’s like…what do you want to do? I dunno, what do you want to do?
Anyone have this issue? Please offer suggestions on things to do. The problem is that I tend to sleep most of the day since I’m on the night shift schedule, so then we need activities to do at night…
I do have to confess though. I have spent on something that may not have been an essential.
.
.
.
I bought new pillows today.
But in my rationalized defense, my pillows were over a year old, flattened, and making it difficult to fall asleep. Also, I bought cheap-o ones from Walmart, and only two (I have four total on my bed!), sooooo we’ll call it an essential.
—
In other news, I got the night off, giving me 6 nights off in a row! I don’t go back until Wednesday, so Mirza and I can enjoy the rest of his vacation until school starts!
I really want to make 2010 the year of savings! Or should I say, the year of paying off everything!
But first, let’s get the list out of the way:
Continue to eat healthy and exercise.I know this is kind of a general statement, but I feel like I’ve been doing pretty well in this area, so not a whole lot of goals currently.
Go on vacation somewhere. I have never really been on vacation. I have visited family in Boston, but besides when I was younger, I haven’t been anywhere on my own. Originally, Mirza and I thought that during his spring break (in March) that we would go to California. See San Francisco, etc., but after calculating the expenses, it doesn’t seem feasible at this time. So, instead, we are thinking perhaps we will drive to Georgia or North Carolina and spend like 3 days, 4 nights in a cabin in the woods; go white water rafting, hiking, that sort of thing. Everything is still up in the air at this point as it all depends on how much my tax return comes out to. I originally put the vacation out of my mind and decided I would just save, save, save. But my very responsible and awesome sister repeated to me literally 5 times, “Nicole, you’re always responsible, go on vacation, you deserve a vacation.” And since my sister is so smart, I listen to her!
Read more books! I’m always reading something, but I really want to get in some good reading before the next goal comes into play. Right now I’m actually reading three books! Ask me what I’m reading if you’re interested;)
Start grad school! Yes, in Fall 2010, I would like to begin the Adult Master’s in Nursing program at my undergrad school, USF. Since Mirza isn’t graduating until tentatively May 2011, I figure I might as well just start school and get it over with. Not just “get it over with,” but I would like to be finished with school before we have children and all that jazz someday.
Stay tidy and organized! I’m a clean person. Type A. However, I would like to kick it up a notch by making life easier. By this, I mean try to make a habit out of washing a dish right after I use it, instead of placing it in the sink. I want the kitchen and bathroom cleaned before going to bed. This week I’ve been organizing everything and cleaning. I donated an entire garbage bag full of clothes. And most of them were just lounge-around the house clothes. Why do I need like three drawers full of pajamas??? I don’t!
Get on the day shift! This goal may be happening SOON!!! I learned last week that someone on the day shift has resigned, so that means a spot is open! I haven’t talked with my manager yet due to holidays, but this seems to be my in? I hope there won’t be some other reason why I cannot take her spot. I NEED TO GO TO DAY’S. Don’t get me wrong, I am loving the extra cash and it would be smart to stay on days in order to accomplish goal #1: save money. But damnit, I cannot live this lifestyle!!! Updates to follow as I hear news…
Goal #1: Save money and pay off bills
Ideally, I want an 8 months emergency fund, but quite frankly, that is impossible at this point, but I am saving up slowly. I would like to save another $2,000 for 2010. That isn’t too crazy, to me, anyway.
Continue to contribute to my 401K. I started with $689 at the beginning of the year and I now have over $6900! woohooooo.
I want to pay off 75% of my car loan. Based on my tax return, this would be quite feasible, but a challenge in self-resistance. I would need about $3,000 towards the car, and then another like $375/ mo to accomplish this goal. Ultimate goal is to pay off the car completely by January 2011 from that tax return. Seeing as this is a 5 year loan, I would be paying it off in two years, which would be a huge accomplishment for me! Because of my limited credit history, I did not get the best financing options, unfortunately, but I needed a car and I did not go all out and purchase some brand-new fancy car.
I will have my computer paid off by mid-February, if not sooner. No biggie.
I know all of this will be difficult once I start school because that means more expenses, but…BUT!! Some news: I may still be eligible (for the first semester anyway, until I turn 26) to receive Veterans educational benefits because of my father (even though he died). I received > $800 a month while in undergrad because of his 100% disability (all mental), and if I go part time, I could be getting close to $400 a month, which would help A LOT!!!
(PS: I have no credit card debt. Only debt to name is in the form of my car and student loans, which are minimal, like $2,000).
For January, I am challenging myself to a NO SPENDING MONTH. I will only be purchasing essentials, like food and gas, and of course, paying my bills. I honestly feel like life is surrounded way too much by materialism and purchasing THINGS that we DO NOT NEED!! I am so sick of it. Sometimes for entertainment, we go to the stores…wtf? this should not be entertainment (unless you’re shopping!!). We need more fun activities!!
When I have the urge to spend and shop, I will just channel my inner Suze Orman:
For Christmas, Mirza got me Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. I’m not vegan…or vegetarian, but I love cookbooks geared towards this since they are delicious!
The first recipe I decided to tackle was Kale and Potato enchiladas!
Let me just say that I thought this recipe was quite…involved? I think the time frame they posted for preparation and cooking are skewed, but it was good! I kind of missed the cheese, though, to be honest!
The other day we also decided to have a little “picnic” lunch at the park (Seminole Lake Park), but it ended up being quite windy and cold (for us), so we didn’t stay long, but did capture some pretty pictures.
There was a squirrel that would not leave us alone!!
Hope everyone is enjoying the last days and hours of 2009! I have to say, 2009 turned out pretty well in most regards for me.
-The year actually started with my father’s death, which sounds awfully sad and tragic and by all means is, however, he was not in my life much, so it was more of a shock than anything.
-I also was let down in January when I found out I would not be able to apply for February’s Critical care program and would have to wait another 6 months! argh.
-During January and February, I got a lot of doctor’s appointments out of the way. I hadn’t seen one in …forever… since I had no health insurance prior to my job as an RN. I love to get my teeth cleaned and have it all paid for. I totally appreciate insurance.
-And on January 20th, Obama became president, which rocked.
-I turned 24.
-I celebrated 6 years with my love, Mirza.
-I bought my first car! ok, not my first car, but my first really new(er) car all from my hard-earned money. I got a 2005 Toyota Corolla LE with only 3,500 miles. Yes, 3,500, not 35,000! so to me, that is brand new! I actually spent the 2 years prior to this driving around with no air conditioning…I live in Florida, people!!! aaaaaggh. I actually drove off the lot with my new car in March and I remember the temperature was 56 outside and I had my A.C. on full blast. I wanted to cry and I won’t say if maybe some tears were shed since a car is just a thing, but….
-Got my ACLS
-My sister ran the Boston Marathon~ ok so that isn’t my goal of accomplishment, but my sister rocks. ’nuff said.
