Homework Help

I have a dilemma. I have to write a short story for my fiction class. It's due in a week. It has to be 5 pages long.
On whatever I want.
I have NO idea what to write it about.
Well, that's not entirely true. I have a few ideas, but they all seem pretty lame. Here are some of my choices.
1. Tell the story about the night Spiderman and I met. (but longer and in more detail than the one I posted here)
2. Tell about one of the MANY horrible blind dates I went on before meeting Spiderman.
3. Tell one of my work stories about my strange patients.
4. A completely made up story inspired/suggested by one of you.

I could take one of my real stories and polish them up some, embellish if I have to to make it interesting. OR I could make something completely up. I just don't know.
Also, here's the kicker.

We have to read these aloud to the class.

I think that is what is giving me writer's block. The pressure to be interesting to a group of 25 people that I have never met before. I don't really know my audience. What if my story completely sucks. What if the person who goes before me is a completely fabulous, eloquent, profound writer and here I go talking about my lame blind date.

I'm sure whatever I write will be okay, but I can't help worrying a little bit. This is why I'm taking the class, after all. I want to be a better writer. I want to learn ways to do this. I want to get over my fears and hang ups. It's just scary.

So does anyone have any suggestions?
What should I do?

True Story

Official patient diagnosis listed on the chart:

1. Screaming for past hour (my favorite)
2. chicken bone stuck in throat
3. sick
4. diarrhea x3 months (sucks to be them)
5. Fingernail fell off

Swear to God! These were actual diagnosis I came across today.

In Desparate Need of Some Chocolate!

My day started a little rough today. I woke up with a monster migraine. So bad that it hurt to blink. It even hurt to move my jaw. After taking practically one of everything in my medicine cabinet this morning, the headache finally went away. Around 9am. After I'd been at work for over two hours.

Once I got to work I headed up to ICU (where I was assigned for the day). While I was making my morning rounds there was a code called. A patient had a dissected aortic aneurysm that ruptured when the patient coughed and blood was literally pouring from his mouth. We coded him unsuccessfully. My shoes, pants, and up to my elbows were covered in blood. Fun times.

I had a coworker cover my assignment at 10am while I had my hysterosalpingogram. I had heard from several people who've had this procedure done before that it was excruciatingly painful. Apparently I have a high tolerance for pain. I guess compared to a migraine it was nothing. I hardly felt it. My headaches are 100 times worse. I asked if they were going to start injecting the dye and he said they were already done. Everything appears to be in working order. No blockages....no cobwebs. They did mention that my "lady parts" were petite. I didn't realize they came in sizes. At least SOMETHING on me is petite! (It certainly isn't my ass) Hopefully this will be helpful. In researching the procedure I read that the percentage of people who get pregnant in the first 2-3 months after having one is really high. Sounds good to me.

After a day as exciting as this one, I'm spending my evening chillin'. I start class again tomorrow and my free time will be limited.

Wanna Scar Your Kids? Send 'em to Us!

This weekend we babysat for our niece and nephew. Our niece is 4 and nephew is 2.

Things were going great. We went to the park where they filled their shoes and pockets with the entire contents of the sand box to take back home. We had chicken nuggets and tater tots, a bath with bubbles and watched movies.

Spiderman has spent most of this time amusing himself with his new game "point out how Sarah will be a completely incompetent mother". So what if I almost flung our niece from the swing when I tried to stop it. So what if I can't get the car seat harness to snap right away prompting my niece to say "Auntie Sarah, you're not very good at this." Who cares that by 10am the next morning I was exhausted and ready for them to take their naps. Spiderman says that it's because I can't handle them. And you want kids of your own? he asks. He handles them better. Of course he does. He's not the one who woke up with them at 6am this morning. Instead he slept another 3 hours while we had breakfast that consisted mostly of them crushing Cap'n Crunch into the carpet. He's not the one who's been bathing them and wiping poopy butts. Speaking of poopy butts, can I just say...for a little guy who only ate 4 tater tots, and 2 bites of chicken nugget....he had a poop the size of a grown man at an all-you-can-eat buffet!

When nap time came is when we scarred the children. They were laying in the spare bedroom on the bed bickering, biting, and generally NOT napping. Spiderman suggested we separate them and take one of them into our bedroom. The devastation these two showed at being separated from the sibling that only a few short minutes ago they hated with the fire of a thousand suns was horrific. They sobbed for 10 solid minutes and declared that they wished we weren't their auntie and uncle. But they DID nap. Eventually. After the whimpering died down.

It is now peaceful once again in the Spoonful house. The kitties have even come out of hiding. When they wake up from their naps, we will do some coloring and then return them to their parents at Grandma's birthday party this evening.

I will miss them. Although they are a LOT of work and are Exhausting, I love the little guys and still look forward to having one of my own.

I'm sure I'll get better at it.

Maybe.

My Awesomeness

Can I just share with you my awesomeness? All week I've been doing inservices for our nursing staff. Inservices about Respiratory and ventilators and arterial blood gas interpretation. With power points. I think I'm going to make a power point presentation for everything I do from now on. It's great fun! I think that I might actually be a pretty good teacher too (which is good considering it's my future career). I can actually see on their faces if they're getting it. When I ask them questions. They can answer me. I feel like I'm finally gaining some respect in my field. I'm more than just a neb jockey. I get to use my BRAIN!
Since starting my new position, I've also noticed a huge reduction in my stress level. Direct patient care is stressful. It's not just the work assignment or the tasks themselves, but dealing with difficult patients, families, and situations. Working only 8 hour shifts and not 12 hour shifts also makes a bit of difference. I'm not going back and forth from days, 3-11's and midnights. I'm not so exhausted physically and emotionally when I get home from work that I have to decide which I want more a shower, dinner, or my bed. I actually have time when I get home to make dinner, maybe throw in a load of laundry, and more importantly RELAX!
This must be what normal people feel like.
It's pretty awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

He's a pretty, pretty princess!

When I'm 92

Spiderman and I were having an interesting conversation the other day. I told him that I want to live to be 92 years old. When I'm 92 I have all sorts of plans.

1. I'm going to dye my hair either red or burgundy.
2. I'm going to wear all sorts of outrageous clothes with bright colors and prints. I will also wear more hats. Fancy hats. To match my outfits....and my orthopedic shoes.
3. I love jewelry and hopefully by the time I'm 92 I will have an extensive collection to wear. With everything. Even sweatpants.
4. I will probably need to keep my glasses on a pretty beaded string so as not to lose them.
5. Two words. Red Lipstick.
6. I will force my children and grandchildren to drive me around because I plan on having many activities. Bingo, movies, book club, shopping, yoga. I plan to be a busy lady.
7. I will also probably embarrass above children and grandchildren by talking about sex, bodily functions, and cursing like a truck driver.
8. I'm hoping that I will actually shrink a little. It will add to my charm.

All of these are things that I could easily do now, but people would think that I'm a little strange. Well, stranger than they already think I am. One of my hang-ups is that I'm sensitive to what people think and say about me. Hopefully when I'm 92 I'll have gotten over that. I'll be free to do whatever I want because after all....I'll just be another crazy little old lady. After hearing this I'm sure Spiderman now hopes that I outlive him.

****Oh, and check out the book review section. I've added a few new reviews****