It’s 9:30 pm as I type this

I probably should be asleep right now, because my alarm is set for 5:30 am so I can get up in time to get to my mental health clinical tomorrow.

I was a little worried about doing a mental health clinical rotation, largely because I was worried I would be incompetent and that the patients would be annoyed by my presence as a student nurse.

But as it turned out, so many of the patients at my location were more than happy to chat with me and my classmates. So, I feel much less nervous about going back tomorrow!

As part of this semester’s work, I was also assigned to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I’d never been to one before (I actually dislike the taste of alcohol, so this is definitely not going to be my vice of choice), but it was a rather moving experience.

(Did I find myself tearing up? MAAAAYBE.)

I left desperately hoping that all the people there would be able to stay the course and find success in their sobriety journeys.

I also am assigned to attend an Al-Anon meeting, and then I have to write a paper about both meetings.

I am always happy when a writing assignment pops up in nursing school because I’m like, “Oh! Now THIS is something I have lots of practice with!”

It is sort of an odd feeling to be starting a new career like this in middle age; I am constantly feeling like an incompetent newbie. Which is fine, but the paper-writing is a nice little reminder of what it feels like to be competent at something. 😉

Not the correct uniform

Last week rather late in the evening, my clinical group and I realized we had to submit a video recording of a faux shift hand-off, not an audio.

Whoops.

My scrubs were all dirty, so, I put my clinical jacket on over my shorts, added my badge, and filmed just my torso. 🙂

No one would ever have needed to know. Except now all of you are privvy to my little secret. 🙂

Some questions

Jana (Central California Artist) had a few questions in yesterday’s post:

Did you continue your regular walks in addition to all the workouts?
What are those colored balls for?
Did you buy new (to you) gym equipment?

1. Yes! I kept walking just like usual. And actually last month I walked more than usual: 130 miles! This month I’ve logged 44 miles in 10 days, so I’m off to a solid start.

2. Ben mostly had me use the balls at the gym for various abdominal exercises…variations on crunches and sit-ups.

3. And nope, I didn’t buy a thing. He asked me for an inventory of what I had at home and what my gym had, and he designed my workouts around that stuff.

Glucose Goddess

A bit ago, I stumbled across an Instagram account by the name of Glucose Goddess, run by a French biochemist. She mostly posts graphs comparing the blood sugar effects of various foods, and I find them fascinating.

It is so interesting to see how the blood sugar effects change when you have a carb on its own vs. combining a carbohydrate food with fiber, fat, and/or protein.

Speaking of Instagram, you can follow Ben Palocko there and take advantage of the tips and tricks he posts there for free. 🙂

Chiquita, in all the wrong places

Please enjoy these pictures of Chiquita being where she is not supposed to be.

I forgive her, though, because she is very good at giving snuggles.

Ok! It’s 10 pm so I really need to get myself into bed. I hope you have a lovely Wednesday, dear readers!