It's official: I'm moving!!! Tomorrow, actually. It's been in the works for about a month now, but I wanted to wait before making an official announcement. I've resigned myself to the idea of living in this area for a long time, and have been ready to find my own space. A former coworker invited me to rent out her basement and the house is only a few minutes from my hospital. Perfect. Another perk is that it comes partially furnished. All I really need is a bed, tall dresser, shelving space for my (thousands of) books, and other miscellaneous items. After a short spell of packing last week I've done almost nothing this week. My desk faces the opposite direction of my bed so I don't have to see the empty boxes currently taking up space, allowing me to ignore them and type this post and eat leftover chicken nacho pizza (yummy!). As exciting as it is to be moving, I HATE packing. The number of books I own seem to grow exponentially every time I move. I'm grateful to have friends around willing to help.
In other news, I'm currently crushing on a podcast that an acquaintance of mine mentioned a few weeks ago called Welcome to Night Vale, which can be found on iTunes or Podbay. Another podcast I've been listening to is Podcast of Doom, which appeals to the nerdy part of me. (I do NOT receive any sort of compensation for mentioning either podcast.) They keep me from going crazy. That is all.
Much love to my readers. Not sure when I'll have another post up.
Until next time,
~Staci~
http://commonplacebooks.com/
www.podcastofdoom.com
Friday, December 12, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Recap
Greetings All!
My last post came in January and though there's been a lot to write about, one excuse led to another excuse and I never got around to posting updates. So much has happened and there isn't enough time to go into detail but I hope my readers will enjoy (briefly) reading about my adventures this year.
School
Months of hard work came to an end in May and I graduated with certificates in Phlebotomy and Certified Nursing Assistant. My phlebotomy clinical rotation at an outpatient lab in a local hospital went better than expected and I successfully completed 175 out of 193 sticking attempts. My clinical instructors had been phlebotomists for over 40 years combined. They were kind and willing to teach me, and were patient when I made mistakes. I aced both final exams in the class. CNA clinical rotation was a little more stressful, but again, I aced the final exam and passed the clinical portion with a 2.4 out of 3. Though my phleb clinical was a solitary experience, my CNA clinical was not. My classmates were extremely helpful and supportive. Since my school had hundreds of graduates I decided not to attend graduation and settled for a small party. My small party turned into a large family affair. Admittedly, I was not on my best behavior that weekend.
Work
This has been the most successful year of my adult life in regards to work. The nursing home that hosted my CNA clinical rotation hired me even before graduation, which allowed to quit my dreaded waitressing job. Typing my letter of resignation and handing it in was a GREAT day. But my heart was set on working as a phlebotomist and spent a lot of time applying for other jobs. One of the local hospitals interviewed me in June and hired me to start work in July. After years of debating and months of doubts, I finally found a job that I'm good at, a job that I enjoy, and an employer and managers who respect me. There is room to grow, experience to gain, and paths to move up. Handling two jobs at once proved to be too much for me and I left the nursing home in August, but the hospital keeps me busy. My 90-day exam and evaluation were last month and both were successful. I get my first raise in December.
Callie
My darling Callie cat got worse after we put Max down last year and I regretfully put her down at the end of August. A future post will go more into detail. I miss her so much.
I'm still fiddling with the layout and the design of the blog. I'm also thinking of a different title and direction of it altogether. Things are moving forward and different than where they were when my blog was first published. The draft for this particular blog is taking forever to write as I feel like I've lost the touch. My writing sounds TERRIBLE as I reread it. Even after 50 posts and ten months of not writing, I'm hesitant to share my thoughts and life with the world via words.
Until next time,
~Staci~
My last post came in January and though there's been a lot to write about, one excuse led to another excuse and I never got around to posting updates. So much has happened and there isn't enough time to go into detail but I hope my readers will enjoy (briefly) reading about my adventures this year.
School
Months of hard work came to an end in May and I graduated with certificates in Phlebotomy and Certified Nursing Assistant. My phlebotomy clinical rotation at an outpatient lab in a local hospital went better than expected and I successfully completed 175 out of 193 sticking attempts. My clinical instructors had been phlebotomists for over 40 years combined. They were kind and willing to teach me, and were patient when I made mistakes. I aced both final exams in the class. CNA clinical rotation was a little more stressful, but again, I aced the final exam and passed the clinical portion with a 2.4 out of 3. Though my phleb clinical was a solitary experience, my CNA clinical was not. My classmates were extremely helpful and supportive. Since my school had hundreds of graduates I decided not to attend graduation and settled for a small party. My small party turned into a large family affair. Admittedly, I was not on my best behavior that weekend.
Work
This has been the most successful year of my adult life in regards to work. The nursing home that hosted my CNA clinical rotation hired me even before graduation, which allowed to quit my dreaded waitressing job. Typing my letter of resignation and handing it in was a GREAT day. But my heart was set on working as a phlebotomist and spent a lot of time applying for other jobs. One of the local hospitals interviewed me in June and hired me to start work in July. After years of debating and months of doubts, I finally found a job that I'm good at, a job that I enjoy, and an employer and managers who respect me. There is room to grow, experience to gain, and paths to move up. Handling two jobs at once proved to be too much for me and I left the nursing home in August, but the hospital keeps me busy. My 90-day exam and evaluation were last month and both were successful. I get my first raise in December.
Callie
My darling Callie cat got worse after we put Max down last year and I regretfully put her down at the end of August. A future post will go more into detail. I miss her so much.
I'm still fiddling with the layout and the design of the blog. I'm also thinking of a different title and direction of it altogether. Things are moving forward and different than where they were when my blog was first published. The draft for this particular blog is taking forever to write as I feel like I've lost the touch. My writing sounds TERRIBLE as I reread it. Even after 50 posts and ten months of not writing, I'm hesitant to share my thoughts and life with the world via words.
Until next time,
~Staci~
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Phlebotomy
This is just a quick update in case you haven't heard the details. One week before school began, the director of the phlebotomy program called to let me know that there was an open position this semester and that I was next in line. Even though everything was all set for me to take the CNA program, I asked both program directors if was alright if I did both. Now I have 10.5 credit hours this semester. The first half of the week is jam packed with classes and homework, the second half is spent recovering, studying, and working (if I'm given the hours). Both of my instructors put the fear of God into their first lectures. We live in a lawsuit-crazy society and both CNAs and phlebotomists are susceptible to being sued for damages. It's a good thing I love lists because nearly every procedure done in classes and clinicals is a step by step process.
My blog is potentially on hiatus (or has been off and on already), but I don't really have much to say anymore. Gram, Callie, and I are still missing Max. Sometimes I hear him bark and it unnerves me. We were planning on getting another dog, but with the added cost of school this semester and the lack of time it's probably not a good idea.
Until next time,
~Staci~
My blog is potentially on hiatus (or has been off and on already), but I don't really have much to say anymore. Gram, Callie, and I are still missing Max. Sometimes I hear him bark and it unnerves me. We were planning on getting another dog, but with the added cost of school this semester and the lack of time it's probably not a good idea.
Until next time,
~Staci~
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