Murse y me

A few months ago I had some scores posted. Thanks for the kind words, Sharon, but they weren't the real thing. Those were just some practice exams I took at the OU library. Since I didn't have printer access, I just printed them as graphic files and posted them up here so I could print them when I got home.

But at 3 a.m. today I finally got my official results. I am now a licensed practical nurse in the state of Oklahoma.

This last little post is just to give those who stumble across it one last little update. I will most likely start a new job in the ER at the VA next month, and I start classes full time at Rose State today.

It's been a little over a year since I started, and while I've finally reached a point of tangible accomplishment, I still have a long way to go; I have to take 18 hours over the next two semesters to get into OU's BSN program, as well as three exams.

But I do feel that I've learned a lot, including:

• I like emergency nursing a lot more than floor nursing
• Study groups are more efficient with beer
• I definitely want to get a master's degree
• I'm pretty decent at playing beer pong
• There's a definite bias in hospitals against LPNs
• Red River Pale Ale might be the best beer in Oklahoma
• I really like beer (OK, I already knew that!)

So that's pretty much it. At last, I'm officially a nurse.

Now I'm gonna go have a beer to celebrate.

All good things ...

Folks, I think the blog is on it's last legs. Maybe it's time to pull the plug.

I realized earlier this week that it's been more than two months since I've posted (or at least posted and kept it up longer than a day). And since nursing school started, I've had a whopping 11 posts -- most of them short. And let's face it: sitemeter tells me that not only am I hardly writing, you're hardly reading. Not too many daily visits to the site anymore.

I've felt like I've had nothing to blog about, but that isn't exactly true. I've had thoughts on blogging about films, new TV shows that have me actually wanting to watch prime time television again, snow days (I've been off from school all week thanks to the ice storm), starting a podcast, school happenings in general and my real-life "A Christmas Story" experience. Partly I didn't blog about these things because I didn't think anyone would really be interested (nasogastric suctioning, bolus feedings and subcutaneous injections really aren't as exciting as they sound). But mainly I didn't blog about it because I just plain didn't feel like it.

Since I was a teenager I wanted to be a writer. But I was never very good at it because it wasn't the actual writing that interested me; I liked telling stories. Which is why in college I was taking a stab at screenwriting. I wrote a few scripts, none of which were very good. And there was the novel, which was what really got this blog going. And funny part is that the most enjoyable part about writing "The Chronicles of Boston Thomas: A Sci-Fi Space Western Action Adventure Extravaganza" was blogging about it.

And so I ended up using the blog some more, telling stories about myself, my mom, my sleazy motel escapades and whatnot. But I've undergone a change these past few months. The first two months of the program I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I was making "the biggest mistake of my life," to quote Tom Keegan, the J-W sports editor.

But I have to say that it's gone pretty well. I finally feel like a nurse -- OK, student nurse, but you know what I mean. I'm a provider of health care, not an ex-journalist, or wannabe writer. And maybe that's why I've got no more stories to tell. Maybe it's time for me to leave the writing to the writers.

So to quote a writer I know:

"Blah. Blah. Blah. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Who cares, right? Thanks for readin'!"