Cows!

I was browsing through pictures on the computer today and thought that I would give the picture uploading a try since I have no clue how to use it. As you can see I figured it out!
This picture was taken at what used to be called Wild Waves, (now a six flags park) in Washington. Even since I was little I loved animals. Now as I am older I picked (about 10 years ago) which animal I really enjoyed. Don't ask me why it is a cow but it is. Needless to say not purple cows, I don't think that you can find those in the wild very easily, but the simple plain black and white ones I really do enjoy. I think that this picture says a thousand words. Don't you?

The Silver lining to the Cloud

Most of us look forward to Christmas and the events that take place during the season. The decorations that go up, the kids with their good attitudes, and of course the little amount of snow that we usually get. I am going to emphasize LITTLE!
We go tour first snow on a Tuesday the 16th. It was a great little treat of an inch or so. On Wednesday the threat of a huge storm was on the prowl per the weather man. Wednesday came and went with no snow.
Thursday however.... I went to work just like a normal day. It was snowing that morning not very hard but enough to make the bus not come. So I decided to drive in and save myself the frustration of waiting for the bus for a long time.
On the way to work the snow suddenly picked up its fierceness while I am driving with another person in my car. I made it to work in time and of course stupid me doesn't think that duh, I'm parked on a hill with my nose up the hill. It didn't occur to me that my car would get stuck!
The snow started at 5 am with a thunderous roar, "thunder snow", and it kept going, and going, and going... By 10 am Seattle has 4 inches of snow.
So I decided to try and move my car. HAH! That was a great idea. It wasn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, our genius bosses were booking 4 hotel rooms at the Silver Cloud in just a few blocks away. I decided to stay the night instead of trying to make it home. Now I should tell you that on Wednesday, I had in my car a very lovely packed suitcase with enough clothes and other things to sustain me for about 4 days. Silly me, no more like retard me, FORGOT the stupid thing by the front door on Thursday morning!
So on Thursday night I went to the hotel with my roommate. Now the story about her is she snored so freaking loud that I barely slept that night. I didn't know that women could snore that loud! I tried everything to wake her up including throwing things at her! Needless to say I went to work very tired.
The snow was relentless on Friday as well so I ended up staying the night again. My car however ended up in the garage thanks to some help.
Friday night I stayed with a friend from the lab. We had a great time on Friday night, Saturday night AND Sunday night. That's right. I satyed that whole time. By Sunday night most of the people that were staying in the hotel were departing and trying to get home. Nope, not me! And I still only had my one pair of socks and one pair of you know whatsies. Yes, the sink is a beautiful place to wash your delicates!
By this time I was getting a little grouchy to the people that I was seein gon a day in and day out basis. By Christmas eve I was able to get off work a little early to go home and grab some of my stuff so that I could be more comfortable. I did but I ended up needing a push to get going.
I spent Christmas night in the hotel and finally got to go home to my place on Friday. What a relief I must say to go home.
When I got home I realized that the place where I park needed to be shoveled. I think I tried really hard for about half and hour but after that it looked like I didn't do anything! So I ended up parking partially on the street. I had a rough start out this morning but after a fair amount of yelling at my car it finally moved!
I must say the the Silver Cloud has great accomodations and a lovely hot tub but nothing beats home!

Stealing Blogs.... :)

I got this from another blog and thought that it would be exciting to do. So copy it from mine and highlight the ones that you have done!

1.Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii- maybe soon! My sister got accepted to the U of Hawaii!
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis- we had to each take a turn in fourth grade baby sittin gover the weekends!
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped I wish!
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning- more than once!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping- this shall remain a story in my head
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Seen a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors- Minnesota Baby!
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language- I wanted to be able to tell what the people at work were talking about so i taught myself enough Tagalog to understan bits and pieces. They still don't know that I know what they are talking about!
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing- loved every second of it!
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke- another story that will not be shared!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant- bought a homeless guy a Dick's burger once.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance- only 3 times!
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling- does snorkling in a lake count?
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud- so fun to do! It's called the Turkey Bowl!
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma- donated blood a few times. They don't want me any more. I guess I'm not good enough!
65. Gone sky diving - this is one of my ambitions.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar- only once, NEVER AGAIN!
72. Pieced a quilt- I did 9 squares and called it good!
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone- technically both bones that I broke were my brothers fault. Two in my arm when I was 6 playing airplane and one in my foot when he pushed me down the stairs!
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper- only my butt actually. It was for Volleyball and there was my tooshie on the front page of the Issaquah Press!
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- fish in Alaska
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life- did the heimlich on someone at work
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one- my Grandpa and a 2 friends
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit- when I was really little
98. Owned a cell phone- never will go without one now!
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own- Proud of it!

Uuuugggghhhh!!!!

They have a saying at work that i find rather amusing: "Cassie doesn't call in sick.... she calls in dead!" This is the saying that now 3 jobs have given me. It basically means that I am a tough person that doesn't call in sick or leave work unless I feel like I am acutally going to die. Thursday was one of those days. The whole previous week I was feeling off my rocker and not well. Nothing really hurt and I wasn't "sick", I just didn't fell like I normally do.
Then Wednesday hit. I was starting to feel sick. I had a slight headache and I was starting to run a fever and feel achy. I just thought that if I got a good night sleep that I would at least feel better on Thursday. Boy was I wrong!
Thursday I woke up. That was my first mistake. I knew that where I was placed at work that day that I wouldn't be doing much so I thought if I could just get through the day, I would skip school for the first time in a few years and go home a get some sleep and I could make it on Friday. That was another mistake. So I got up, did minimal showering and getting myself to look presentable enough for work and headed off. I didn't eat breakfast. I think that was the good thing because later that day I tossed my lunch in the bathroom. Luckily no one heard that. When I got to work my head was beginning to really bug me so I took some Tylenol and shrugged it off just hoping that would help me enough to concentrate. As the day went on, many people were telling me that I wasn't acting or looking like myself. I surely wasn't. Lunch time came and Iwent into the breakroom. After that I don't remember much of that day. I apparently didn't pass out but got really un-understandable and I looked paler than I usually do. So many people told me to go home. This was at 1230 and I only had 2 hours to go. By 1300 My head was so bad that I was physically sick and I couldn't erally open my eyes enough to see what I was doing so i asked my boss to go home.
The bus ride home was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was so bright, noisey and jiggly that by the end of it I was almost crying. Luckily my stomach held onto itself long enough for me to get home and lie by the toilet for a few hours. Did I mention that lying next to a toilet is not something that I would normally do unless I was dying?
So to make a long story short. I am alive....barely.... I have a high temp, a migraine still, I actually kept something down today, my thoat hurts, I have a runny nose and I feel like what a 3 year old would say of as "icky caca". I think that I'll live but as of right now I can't make any promises to being functional in the next few days.
I am writing this in hopes that I can distract myself for 5 minutes but it is not working very well.
People at work have been sending me texts going "when is the funeral" and "what do you want on you headstone" I find thatquite amusing that people have a wierd way of checking up on me while trying to humor me.
So now I am going to crawl into my lovely electric blanket bed, with an extra quilt on top, put my head on my oh so comfortable pillow, which should still be nice and warm from me laying on it all day and try to get some sleep. Although I think that the chicken noodle soup that I had awhile ago may come back to haunt me.

The Wonder That We Call Work!

For the past 6 weeks at work I have been what is known as the dispatcher. These duties involve answering phones from nurses, doctors and other such hospital personnell that need labs test results, need lab test to be drawn, pick ups of specimens on the floors and other such items as what colored tube does this test go in. As well as that, it is making sure that the tests that are ordered come out and go into the prosepected zones, (areas of the hospital that the other phlebs take and do), making sure that there are no duplicates and making sure that none of the draws get missed and if they do, make sure that they get done. As well as these, I am the peace maker, (which those of you who know me I can do well or be the one the disrupts the peace) and make sure that people are doing their fair share. Of course this sounds rather small in the big prospect of the world, but as the weekends go by, my patience amongst other things has been tried and true.
This weekend was particularly hard for me. I was not feeling well, and being the only person that knows how to dispatch, minus the other person who is out on a doctors note for goodness knows how long, I did not have the luxury of calling in sick. 2 other people however did and that left me with not as many people as I would have liked. Normally we have at least 5 phlebs on the weekends if not more, because somebody wanted to work overtime. This weekend I had 3-4. Some coming in later than others. So I had to do a "morning list", about 15 drawns in about an hours time and then come back downstairs to sort out the mess that had accumulated in the hour that NO ONE was downstairs. This resulted in many frustrated nurses and a very frustrated me!
Throughout the day I was constantly fixing peoples mistakes and trying to prevent the ones that I saw coming. We have a new phlebs tat needs a little more training than what she had and I REALLY think that we need to teach her a few tricks of the trade. Needless to say I was out of there about 90 minutes late because of some paperwork and writing up that I had to do because of someone, not naming names, did a newborn screening test on the wrong baby presummably, and both babies test had to be canceled and redone. For those of you who are moms you can only think that the other moms were not happy to have their new baby's foot restuck and bood squeezed out. They were NOT happy AT ALL!
So at the end of the day, well, later than it should be, I went home, ate some lovely store bought cookies and climbed into my nice bed with the electric blanket on it and fell asleep at about 6! slleping through, for the most part until the next morning. I tell you what a good night sleep I had that I haven't had in a LONG time! It was absolutely great to not have to wake up to an alarm clock but to just me waking up! It is truly amazing what a better mood you can be in when you just wake up when your body is ready to!

Idiots and school

Yesterday was my first day back to school in about a year and a half. Much time has gone by and though I have thouroughly enjoyed not having to sit through lectures and boring slide presentations, hand cramps from furiously trying to keep up with the teacher and the never ending homework, I find myself getting just a bit nervous and excited of the next few years of school to come. Don't get me wrong here, I still don't like going to school, but to get a degree to which you can actually do something in life instead of flipping burgers, school is a must.
Class started out with a sub. Yes a sub. For the week actually. We don't really know where the teacher is but hope that he will maybe show up. class started promptly at 1730 and we had the usual stragglers and wonderers come in with the "sorry I'm late" and "I couldn't find the classroom". Oddly enough the classroom is off the biggest walkway on the bottom floor as you head in from the parking garage. Anyways, class could not have been deader. The teacher and the materials were fine, it was the people! I forgot that in high school all you did was sit there and wait for the teacher to answer him/herself. That is what this classroom was like. I answered a few questions along with one other girl, but for the most part it was the half asleep, head resting on arm, half hunched over people that seemed like they were in high school. The one thing that I truly loved about night school a few years ago was the older people that really wanted to be there and that interacted with the people around them and tried their best to get the answers right. Yeah, most likely not this class. By the way, this is a Biology class. We get out at 1940 and they scatter like little mice out of a cage!
So as I journey off into another battle to get a good grade, keep my sanity and get enough sleep, wish me well so that I may not beat my 18 year old lab partner who doesn't speak very good English over the head with a Microscope!

New Discovery!

I have recently discovered that a coffee maker, as long as it is either very clean or brand new is such a great idea for heating up your water to the perfect temperature in the morning! You just put the water in, turn it on and you get hot water! Yes I know that you can use the microwave or a kettle or even run the hot water in tap but it seems to last longer when you do it this way. Another plus, if you want to make hot chocolate or apple cider you just put that in the filter, and it makes it for you! I bought the kind that doesn't need the paper filters, it has a mesh screen that you just rinse off! All for the amazing price of 15 dollars at Fry's! I encourage all that love their hot drinks in the morning to get one of these bad boys and enjoy!

The hunt for the shade!

I know that this title is a little wierd! But that is how I feel! Being the pale almost translucent person that I am, I actually enjoy the cooler weather because the sun doesn't burn as bad! Don't getme wrong, I LOVE the heat and sun, but the burning affect of my poor little nerve endings under my skin, I could go without!
Today at work I spent my lunch outside, UNDER the trees, and guess what? Yup that's right! No sunscreen=sunburn! Even under the trees! So before I went outside at the end of my shift I was in the locker room smothering myself with sun screen, (for the 2 (15) waiting periods for the bus) and I walked out ready to go and what happens? I get heckled. Not such a big deal but hey! I prefer not to be burnt all the time and as a result of that, not to get skin cancer! Of course almost everybody is darker skinned than me so I bet that throughout the summer the heckling will continue. But is that is the price to pay for looking younger than I acutally am, less wrinkles and far less percentage of skin cancer, I am willing to take it!

What the heck!

Ok, so now I feel like like I am griping but hey! It's my blog and maybe if someone reads it, they might have some advice for me!
As stated in the previous blog, things are so confusing right now! As if things weren't confusing enough the fecal matter now has hit the fan. If I thought that I was fed up with it a month ago, I really am mustering enough strength to get out of bed everyday and actually put one foot in front of the other. It seems like the harder that I tried to compensate for inadequecies in my like, the worse it actually got! Why does life always seem to throw the curveballs when the you don't even have a bat. Better yet, no bat and the ball hits you! Repeatedly!

The confusion that we call life

This past month I have become very confused on the whole "life process" point that we are all supposed to be going through.
It seems so much easier for others to get what they want and to achieve the success that they have always dreamed of while others it takes so much longer and the struggles are so much harder to overcome.
My personal battles have been kind of rough this past month. Not going to into too much detail, I have been struggling with my self worth. Realizing that I am actually someone has not come very easily for me and the truth is that I still struggle with it on a a day to day basis.
I am trying so hard to be the person that I want to be and in the midst of it all I am loosing who I really am. I am trying to too hard to please myself but all I can do is try harder. It is a circle that I just cannot seem to break.
I know that life is a virtual roller coaster and that all you can do sometimes is hold on and try to enjoy the ride. But through all this I seem to have the safety harness unbuckled and I am holding on for dear life.

New Foods

Working with many cultured Phillipino's I have come to taste many new foods these past few months. Some quite tasty although their desciption and some, however simple they may seem, are not so tasty.
1- fried sardines- the whole sardine, eyes and mouth bones and all fried in oil and dunked in rice vinegar. Not so tasty and the whole thing looking at you before you devour it not so hot.
2- milk fish- a fish, a little bit bigger than a sardine, cooking in a pan and eaten by stripping the skin part way off and eating it. Not a big fan of fish, so, not so tasty.
3-Balut- a 6 day old fetus of a duck that is still in the egg. You boil it first like you would a hard boiled egg. The process of eating it goes- crack to top so that you have a little hole to drink the fluids out of, this part tastes like chicken broth. Next you eat the yolk. It tastes like a chicken egg yolk but much richer. Next you eat the little duckie. Although you think fear factor ducks, you cannot tell much that it is a little duck. It actually looks, (pardon the very disgusting description) like a big snot ball of shredded chicken. It tastes much like chicken. Although the horrible description, it is not that bad!
4- Whole shrimp- Legs, eyes shell and all! Not that bad!
I tell you, we have had a few potlucks and a party and when Phillipinos say food, they mean food! It is like Thanksgiving dinner every time we decide to eat!

Deceiving little ladies

My job at work keeps me very busy with the elderly most of the time. Today was one of the days that kept me guessing.
My days start off with what we call morning draws. Usually between 15-25 draws that need to be accoplished between the hours of 6 and 730. This happens most mornings, although this morning it did not.
The draws started off with sleepy customers and grouchy ones too. Then came room 907. I walk into the room and the about 70 years old smiles at me sweetly and greets me and I get to my business. I put on the tourniquet and I am using the smallest needle that I can because she is a delicate one and the second I put the needle in her skin she screams bloody murder and her other hand comes at me full force with a fist. Lucky for me I have fast reflexes and I dodge it, not avoiding the wind that came with it. She proceeds then to tell me that I stink, although in a rude manner which I shall not repeat, and that I need to get out of her room before she rips my head off! My what a dramatic change!
The second little lady was from Russia and was quite the sweetie until again the tourniquet went on and the needle came out. The same yelling occured this time she proceeded to try and spit on me. Again lucky for me I am a quick study and have Jedi like moves.
The third lady I went to get blood from was the not so nice potty mouth. The nurses warned me ahead of time saying things such as "good luck!" and a few chuckles. I had two nurses helping me hold down this lady and she had language that could make a trucker blush! Needless to say I ended up frusterated because one, she did not have any veins that I could use and two, I was getting a head rush from how loud she was.
This day was one of complete frustration but it kept me going because all I could think about was how the day couldn't get any more crazy than it already was!

My first blog!

So I have finally broken down and decided to get a blog other than the ones on myspace and facebook.
My life is just that. A life. Sometimes it is crazy, other times it is completely boring!
These past few months have been somewhat of a blur. To catch up those people that I have not seen or talked to in a while, this is what has been happening!
In August I enrolled at PIMA Medical Institute to take classes on becomng a phlebotomist. For all those who don't speak Latin terms that is a cool name for someone who draws blood. I go this idea and decided to go fo it. After all, knowing me, blood does not bother me one bit!
So in the months of October and November I was in classes learning exactly what to do and the anatomy that drawing blood actually involves.
In December I was off to train at my externship at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. The first few weeks were rough as I was just starting out and still learning certain things. The last few weeks were a little better.
January brought the job hunt on! I turned in almost 50 applications and got the same response from almost everybody: "You need at least one year of experience before we can hire you." Fortunately Swedish Hospital was in deseprate need of Phlebotomists so I got the job there and at the end of January I started to work!
Now it sees as though I have been there forever and day, but everyday brings new surprises and new things that I have not seen before! I am loving the interaction with the medical field and couldn't ask for a faster paced postion. Those of you who know me know that if I sit down for too long in one spot not doing anything then I tend to drive those people that I am sitting by crazy!
All in all I think that this job will help me further my career in the medical field. Don't ask me what I am going to do yet, it is still undecided, but I will not be a professional vampire the rest of my life!