Kapachino

“Church Parking Only: Violaters Will Be Baptized”

When I lived with my parents, there was a church that we would frequently drive by which had a sign out front and its contents were constantly changing. My brothers and I loved it because the sayings were always something funny, witty, or weird. The signs were so creative that my brother David and his friend decided to start naming their songs after it. That’s how they ended up with a song called, “Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Words Form Sentences.”

I was extremely pleased to discover that my new apartment complex (which I have lived in for a few months now) is situated right next to a church with a sign out front which changes weekly. The sayings aren’t quite as funny as the last church–in fact they’re sometimes plain cheesy–but it works for me. So I have diligently recorded the last two months of sayings for you, just in case you ever need something to fill up the space on your own church sign:

“‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’ –Albert Einstein”

“A liar needs a good memory.”

“It’s not your aptitude but your attitude that determines your altitude.”

“Truth is heavy, so few men can carry it!”

“Only those who are willing to fail greatly can ever succeed greatly.”

“Smooth seas do not make a skilled sailor.”

“Average people don’t want others to go beyond average.”

“A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package.”

A Decent End To A Rough Week

This has been a week of school stress (always that), being sick, my boyfriend being sick, not being able to see my boyfriend because of school stress and us being sick, not being able to run due to being sick, still having to deal with school stress and work despite being sick, all of which culminated in me having a breakdown in my parents’ kitchen last night over something I took way too personally, something small that really didn’t have to do with me but just came at the wrong time. So I left early, and I didn’t even have ice cream.

But today I am pet-sitting for my boys, and I have a 103-pound yellow shadow named Riley who slept next to me in the bed until 10 o’clock when we got up, who climbed into the shower with me this morning just to be close to me, who somehow knows that I really need some love right now. I have nowhere to be today unless I decide to treat myself to a manicure and pedicure, which I just might do. And oh yeah, I brought a whole half gallon of ice cream home with me from my parents’ house. So there’s that.

WW: Incense Burner On My Desk

This Is Getting Old, But Apparently I’m Not

I was studying at a coffee shop today, when one of the employees said to me, “I didn’t know high schoolers got such big textbooks!” I replied, “Actually, this is my second degree.”

This is a variation on a common question/comment I get about my age. It’s one thing to be mistaken for a youngster by an older person, but this guy looked like he’s about 19 himself. I’m just wondering, at what age am I going to quit being mistaken for a high schooler? Honestly I don’t think I look like one.

A “Disastrous” Day

Today at lunch I had a fortune cookie, and the fortune read, “Today is a disastrous day. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Now I ask you: what is up with that?

Today was NOT a disastrous day. Today was actually a very good day! I woke up at 5:30 a.m. at my brother’s place because that is where I stay on Wednesday nights now in order to get to my 6:45 a.m. clinical in the med center without having to wake up at an ungodly hour (as if 5:30 a.m. isn’t bad enough). At clinical today I was doing an OR observation. I LOVE the OR, and am seriously considering working in that area when I graduate. I was able to put a Foley catheter in a woman for the first time, which is invaluable experience. And it was great because the woman was knocked out so I didn’t have to worry about hurting her or making her uncomfortable. Lunch was free, and our post-clinical conference with our instructor was really good. I like my instructor a lot. For dinner I met a friend at Escalante’s and had a couple really good enchiladas. When I came home Cleo was as excited as I’ve ever seen her, and I like to think that it’s because she missed me and not because she knew I would take her on a walk. Now I’m settling into a quiet evening at home, hopefully to get some studying done.

Does that sound disastrous to you?

In my opinion this fortune cookie company needs to re-evaluate their marketing strategy. I am a completely un-paranoid, un-superstitious, anti-conspiracy kind of person, but I still didn’t like getting that fortune. It could have disastrous effects on a different personality type.

WW: Caught Cuddling

It’s Sad When…

I’m watching Beauty and the Geek and I relate more to the geeks than the beauties.

This Is Life As A Girl

I had a fairly busy and stressful week last week, and one of the main reasons was because I had my first test of the semester this morning in pediatric nursing, which is supposed to be one of the hardest classes we take. I spent a lot of time preparing for the test last week, along with various other commitments that I have going on in my life including, but not limited to: my boyfriend, work, book club, church, running, and Bible study.

So last night, after another long day of meetings and studying, I settled into bed with Cleo lying beside me at my feet. Two nights ago my roommate told me that she left Cleo out of her crate overnight, and there was no damage done. I thought that meant that we were going to keep leaving her out. Last night Cleo slept with me because I decided that she is going to be allowed on my bed, even if she’s not allowed on any other furniture. Right before I closed my eyes I took a good look at Cleo resting beside me and I thought how happy I was to finally have such a sweet dog sleeping beside me. Then I went to sleep.

Awhile later, I’m not sure how long, my roommate burst into my room and said loudly, “Hey Kathleen?” I jerked awake, and then she started talking. She listed to me all the reasons why she doesn’t want Cleo sleeping in my bed with me. I didn’t think any of her reasons were viable, but in my half-asleep state I wasn’t going to argue. Honestly, I don’t know if I would ever really argue with her. She has a very strong personality. The end result was that Cleo was taken away and put her in her crate. I wanted to cry.

This morning I got up and went to school. As I was taking the test I thought that it was easier than I expected it to be. However, we were given an answer key afterwards and were able to see how many we missed. Although I passed, I was extremely disappointed in my grade because of the amount that I had studied for the test. Immediately all energy was sucked out of me. I felt low, low, low. I wanted to cry.

After class I walked to my car, when I realized that I locked my keys inside. Even though I have a spare key underneath, I sure wasn’t making things any easier on myself. When I got home I decided to go to the gym, because exercise usually makes me feel better. I chose a treadmill in front of a TV screen that was showing some football game–Lafayette v. Penn. I like to watch sports when I run because it’s the only thing you don’t need sound to enjoy. Do I care or know anything about these two teams in particular? No. But Lafayette won on a last second field goal, and the whole team was so happy, that–guess what? I wanted to cry. I actually teared up.

It just may be quite an emotional week.

Product Of The Day

My classmate Lauren has been bringing Del Monte Fruit Chillers to lunch almost every school day. I’ve heard her recommend them to several people. So when I was grocery shopping today I picked some up. I’m so glad I did. Obviously I like them enough to dedicate an entire blog post to them. But let me tell you why.

Buy them on the canned fruit aisle, then freeze them. The result is a cold, creamy, fruity treat. There are three flavors: strawberry, raspberry, and mango. They taste like a smoothie with a slightly more solid consistency. And I LOVE smoothies, so that is a high compliment. Furthermore, they are fat free and have 3/4 of a serving of fruit. Seriously, if you like fruity stuff, you really need to try these!

No, Del Monte is not paying me to endorse their product. So what if I occasionally obsess about certain things I like? I have previously dedicated entire posts to Mounds bars, Dove body wash, and my washcloth, just off the top of my head. It’s the little things, people.

We’re Getting The Hang Of This Dog Thing

This is such a busy week for me, and I should be studying right now but I somehow have a hard time really focusing on my schoolwork unless I have other little things taken care of. And I just wanted to check in.

At this moment Cleo is sitting on the floor at my feet IN MY ROOM. This is a huge deal. It is the first time since I’ve had her that she has come into my room on her own and hung out in here. She is kind of weird in that she is afraid of new rooms. For the longest time she wouldn’t go down any halls, into any rooms, or the kitchen. If I tried to walk her in there on a leash she would refuse. So my answer to this was to carry her into the room, make her sit there with me for awhile, and then let her go. Then I waited a few days and I caught her exploring, cautiously, on her own. And now she’s apparently feeling comfortable with it.

Furthermore, I no longer have to push her up the second set of stairs leading to our apartment. She will walk up on her own, though slowly. And she’s eating completely dry dog food, from her bowl, in her room. Also a huge accomplishment.

Over the weekend my roommates and I went out of town, so I left Cleo with Boyfriend David. He has two dogs at his house already, Eddy and Sydney, and boy were they excited to see Cleo. The only other time I’ve seen Cleo so scared is when I took her to the vet. But by the time I came to pick her up the next day, she had two new best friends and I don’t think she wanted to come home.

Boyfriend David has a poster of The Kramer up on the wall in his living room. It is the ONLY wall decoration that he has up. Apparently, Cleo caught sight of it through the window from outside and began to bark at it. Then she crept up toward it slowly, growling all the way, before crouching in front of it and barking for about twenty minutes. Cleo hates Kramer!

She also picked up the habit of jumping up onto couches during her sleepover weekend. My roommate Amanda doesn’t appreciate that because it’s her couch and we’ve caught her on it several times since last weekend. Yesterday Cleo was left alone for a short time while Amanda went to Starbucks, and when she came home Cleo had done this:

When I saw it I thought it was the cutest thing. Her first tear-up! If this is as bad as it’s going to get, then I think we’ve got it pretty good. After having owned a dog for exactly 10 days (even though she’s Amanda’s dog too, I do pretty much everything for her besides feed her in the morning), I can say that it definitely puts limitations on my life but it is completely worth it.