Monday, March 29, 2010

Viva Las Vegas!

Just got back from Vegas with my family. Met my brother and two of his kids, my sister and my mom for a few days. We left on Thursday and I just got back like 30 minutes ago.

I had a ton of fun. Finally saw The Lion King, which was awesome! And we went to my other niece's soccer game. She was in the semi-finals of something, which is why they were down there in the first place.

My brother footed the bill for the entire weekend for all of us, which was incredibly generous of him. So you know I got my grub on!

Gotta turn in the car rental and get to class! Hope you all had a nice weekend?!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Memory What?

The pro is still in class. The teacher let her back in, which was nice. But she has no idea that people know how she makes a living. If she did know, I don't think she would do or say the things she does. For example, she's pretty quiet in class unless the teacher mentions motels or venereal diseases and infections and what not, and then she shares her opinion. Like once the teacher was like, "What are some of the symptoms of a urinary tract infection?" And of course, I know that anyone can get an infection, regardless of what kind of activity you got going on down there, but it's still funny... she raised her hand and was like "Ooh ooh! I know! There's like all this yeasty puss and blood and stuff. And you get bumps and it burns so bad when you pee." She named a few other things, and I think only like half the symptoms she named were indeed symptoms of urinary tract infections. The teacher kinda looked at her confused and shocked by the barrage of non-symptoms, and a lot of the other girls tried to stifle their laughter, to no avail.

And then another day at break she was showing everyone all the numerous bruises she had, and a girl asked her how she got them, and she said that she was just real clumsy. Everyone was like, "Yeah, right, that's what they all say." And everyone laughed and she denied that her boyfriend beat her up, but she didn't realize they weren't talking about her boyfriend... they were giving her a hard time because they assumed that her pimp was beating her up.

So, there's another woman in the class. Let's call her Mama Butch. She has this bossy alpha male energy about her. She loves ordering everyone around and telling people what to do, but half the time she's wrong. Her little chickens that she's taken under her wing are the only ones who flunk the teacher's tests because she tells them incorrect information. Anyway, one day I was feeling unmotivated and asked if anyone wanted to be my study partner. She was the only one who took me up on it (which I found odd since I'm the only one who ever turns her homework in on time). Everyone else had somewhere to go.

Anyway, me and Mama Butch studied for about two hours, and when we were done she looked at me and said, "You need to take me to the train station. Thank you." Her presumptuousness shocked me. And a million things went through my head, most of them very unkind, but I bit my tongue. I'll save the lecture and tongue-lashing for another day. I gave her a ride to the station.

I know it sounds like I'm a little punk bitch, but I've just kinda gotten used to that question as a statement thing here. On the first day of school, the girl behind me said, "Paper." And she stuck her palm out, expecting me to give it to her. And then after class, a dude who wasn't in my class and I'd never even seen before walked up to me and said, "Phone." And he stuck his palm out. I made him give me a complete sentence before I handed it over, though. "Excuse me? What about my phone?" "I need it." "Need what?" "Can I borrow your phone?" And then I almost said/prompted a please, but let it pass.

I don't know if this is the way a lot of these younguns communicate these days or if they just peg me for a sucker. I have always obliged, but it's mostly because I'm so tickled by their rudeness. I want to inspect them and glean more information about them, what makes them tick. What in the world could have shaped them to be the rude individuals they are today. They kinda fascinate me. I want to see if they're part retarded or something.

In other news, this program is going SOOO slow. The thought of devoting three more years to this makes me want to cry. But I have the discipline to push myself through it. What I don't have, I fear, is the memory! I don't know if I've drank one too many glasses of wine, but my memory has really gone down the shitter in the last few years. I spent all of last summer studying conversions (from cups to liters, etcetera), and I was looking at a conversion chart again today because I couldn't remember anything from my course, and it all seemed so new to me! And that seems to be a bad thing for a nurse to have- bad memory. I might stop schooling after the CNA program.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

My Nursing Classmates

My nursing classmates are a bunch of characters. It's like that show, "Community", but on steroids. Never before in my life have I been in a classroom like this... never have I experienced such a colorful and eclectic cast of characters. Unfortunately, the most colorful ones have already been kicked out of the program. We're at about 2/3 of our original class.

There was/is:

The Immigrant Woman: She has crazy stories about her life when she first came to America. She was forced into this quasi-slave labor camp. She was forced to work 60 hours a week and only paid $75 a week for her sweat. She also called our attention to the La Cucaracha and Pro women (Below).

La Cucaracha Woman: She had numerous cockroaches scuttling out of her bag whenever she put it on the ground. She was kicked out yesterday for repeated tardies, but I think it's because the instructor didn't want to worry about a cockroach infestation. Plus, she was shockingly dim.

The Pro: While leaving her ESL night class, The Immigrant Lady spotted The Pro strutting back and forth on a corner, in front of a closed bank, calling out to prospective customers. We all had wondered what was up with this girl because she has these wild eyes and is always arguing with the teacher.
Plus, she's very pretty, but comes to class in totally crazy outfits: she wears Dominatrix shoes and tight tops with her boobs and stomach pouring out of them, but then she has on these huge, grandma baggy-long culotte jean shorts and big, baggy jackets. Like the shirt and shoes go together, and a separate outfit where the shorts and jacket go together. I think she was probably turning tricks and realized she was about to be late, so threw on the only respectable thing she had left over her work clothes. It's really sad. She has something in her that reminds me of Charlize Theron in "Monster". Just really raw and desperate. She was 30 minutes late for class and so the teacher locked her out (those are the rules). She was banging on the door and yelling at us to let her in. Threatening to go to the dean and everything. She had a total meltdown. Now that I know she's a street walker, I feel really horrible about the whole thing. She's probably just so desperate to start a new life. I hope that she's able to.

There were a few other girls who got kicked out, but the details behind them are vague. All I know is that they didn't pass the fingerprinting background check. We had to do the Livescan fingerprints at the police station and one of them actually got apprehended right then and there because she had a warrant out for her arrest.

Now it's mostly nice, ambitious girls who are left. The crazies and criminals have been weeded out. And like 90% of the class is really, really pretty. It's funny, but I guess it makes sense. Nursing school.


Sunday, March 7, 2010

Cutting the Life Raft

Remember Daddy Warbucks? The #2 Bachelor? Well, he's been texting me and emailing me sporadically over the last few months. At first I was friendly back (just in case things didn't work out with my current boyfriend). But then I realized by responding I was being a tease to Warbucks (although I didn't flirt per se- just being very friendly), and being unfair to my BF.

I think when you're in a relationship, you have to be in it 100%. So I stopped returning Warbucks' last few text messages. Which prompted the below email from him. It's kind of cryptic, just like him. I'm not sure if it's himself he's referring to, or if he just has a friend he thinks would be more appropriate for me. I think because he texted me Happy Valentine's Day on the day, it's probably himself he's referring to and he's just teasing me. Well, whatever the case, it's over. I told him that I wasn't being fair to my boyfriend and that we should cut off all communication. I never heard back. Maybe I went too far, but I find him kind of annoying now anyway, so whatever. No regrets here.

His email:

"I went to an Oscar party tonight, and Tom Cruise was there!

I thought of you of course.

I hope you're doing well. If you ever become single again, let me know...I know someone I could fix you up with."