Entry #11 (Eng 102) - Let the Lesson Continue!

Welcome to the world of blogging...

So here you are at the start of your English class thinking how you totally have this nailed already.  English is easy, you've likely been taking English classes for about 12 years now.  This is totally a breeze, easy A, in the bag!  And then your professor lays out what you'll be doing in your English class.  You can't help but think to yourself, "Wait what?  What did he say?  Did I hear that right?"  And like a needle getting dragged across a vinyl record (for those who even remember those), your thoughts of easy-street promptly derail as you see in the syllabus that, no, you weren't hearing things.  You do in fact have a "blog project" as a major part of your grade.  *Smiles*  It's not as bad as you might think.

So a few things about blogging.  First, it's really not a joke.  It might seem like a joke, you might make fun of it or mock it or really just think it's pointless but it's more important than you might first think.  Blogging is sort of a more relaxed way of helping you to learn how to connect what you're writing to who you're writing it to.  And it does that in a lot of little ways without it becoming this giant, neon sign of blinking arrows pointed at "AUDIENCE" to continually remind you .  It isn't some giant, stinking yeti breathing down your neck each time you write or an ACME hammer being bludgeoned over your head so you never forget about your audience.  It's subtle, it's there but it isn't in your face. 

Yeah, you're going to get tired of hearing this.  Just get used to it now, it will be repeated a lot.  A. Lot.  But that's because it's important.  I'll avoid preaching about it (because again, you'll hear this plenty in class, just wait.) but I'll touch a few points and help explain how blogging has helped with each of these.

So I already touched onto audience because that's a big part of blogging - who you're writing your blog to.  But no matter who you're aiming your writing towards, if WHAT you write is, frankly, crap then no one is going to stick around to keep reading it.  You have to find a way to make your content interesting.  This can be challenging sometimes when it comes to serious topics you might be given to write about, but it's still possible.  Finding ways to break up the monotony of endless words droning on on was something that personally I knew I would have to figure out.  I'm what you'd call.... "summary impaired" so writing small amounts just isn't... ever going to happen.  Ever.  Still, what you have to say is going to lend a lot towards drawing an audience and getting people to think about and respond to what you say.  Of course, keeping things super spiffy with lots of amusing and snort-inducing memes helps too!  Or... just... being clever in some other manner.  The possibilities are limitless.

Now, while who you're talking to and what you're talking about are very, very important, how you say it is just as important.  For me I discovered that I am clearly, clearly a heavily sarcastic person in my more free-form writing.  Sarcasm has it's place, it does, and it's not in everything.  I've had to curb it a lot in our writing projects for class.  Here on my blog though?  I've got a bit more freedom to run amok with my natural sarcasm.  I've loved exploring that too.  While half the posts made on this blog have been on topics given to me to write about, there's still a great deal of freedom in deciding how to write about whatever the topic is.  That's where a lot of creativity comes in and I've thoroughly savored each moment of it.  ....even after getting lost in the sea of memes for hours and realizing I haven't written a single cotton-picking word. 

Don't do this.  Don't.  Avoid it.  Even if posts #7 and #8 aren't due until the week that #9 and #10 are due does not mean that you want to wait and do all four at once.  DO NOT DO THIS!  I speak from a place of experience.  This is a nightmare.  You will hate yourself.  Make yourself do the posts the week they're scheduled or you will regret it.  Procrastination is an evil, evil mistress and she will destroy you without a second thought.  If there is one thing I have learned, one massive piece of advice and guidance I can offer as you start this blogging journey: DO NOT WAIT TO POST!  Especially if you want to do the extra credit posting.  Cause doing 5 posts in one day will make you want to murder people in violent and offensive ways, particularly yourself for having waited till the last minute to do them.  Save yourself the heartache.  Just do them each week they're due.  It's easier.  Trust me...

Even if no one outside of your teacher and classmates are ever going to read what you write down - take pride in your work.  I often imagine that all these people are going to stumble across my blog and I think about how I want them to read what I put down, how I want them to be captivated, to be intrigued, to be amused even.  I think of the ways that I could work to make that random person doing a web search that finds my blog to be interested in continuing reading.  I realize that it's not going to happen, but I always keep that in the back of my mind when I'm writing.  That way, at the very least, those who do read my posts will maybe get a smidgen more enjoyment from the effort I've put into it.

There's such a sense of elation that comes when I see that someone has commented on my blog.  I love the fact that others have read it and enjoyed it and felt in some way connected to what I've said.  It makes all the time spent digging around for graphic content or struggling for what I want to say or how to say it all worth it.  It makes me feel like I've done a good job and I always revel in that, in that ability to reach others, to make that connection.  Ultimately the best piece of advice I can give to anyone who's starting this blogging journey is just be yourself.  Don't be afraid to explore topics, look deeper into things and explore your own voice.  That's what blogging really did the most for me, it helped me to find my own voice, to find my own way of saying things, and to delve deeper into topics I might otherwise have never had the guts to discuss.  So, there's my two cents worth, use them as you will.  This is me, signing off one final time...

Entry # 10 (Eng 102) - The Light at the End of the Tunnel!

ALMOST THERE!

It's almost time!  We're almost there!  It's almost over!  In barely two short, glorious weeks the Fall 2017 semester will be through!  Oh glorious exaltation, I can remember what sleep feels like!

And to be honest, at this point I kind of feel like I even have the same war wounds, just on the inside.  My very soul is shredded, I don't remember what not being stressed feels like.  It's honestly my own fault though.  I'm the genius who started a last minute online spring semester class, went straight into summer semester, split classes so as soon as I was done with two classes I started two more and then a third one.  The third summer course was online and 16 weeks, so that stretched into fall semester and I had 3 classes fall semester.  Basically for the last six months I've done nothing but school and work.  The sad part?  I hadn't even realized that till I started breaking out in hives and tried to figure out "WTF IS GOING ON?!" and my doctor was like "oh, it's stress."  ...really?  Really?  Ugh.

This mindset has become something of a joke with my co-workers:
 
Coworker:"What are you working on?"
Me: "Oh, my English paper, trying to find sources for my History paper, working on blogs, peer reviewing, rethinking the reality of my life and wondering just how insane I really am"
Coworker: "...okay, how are you doing that at the end of a 16 hour work day?"
Me:"I live in a perpetual state of exhaustion and stress.  I survive off of caffeine, willpower and pure spite."
Coworker: *slowly backs away while listening to me giggle like an unhinged woman*

Yeah... so the excitement of "OH MY GOD IT'S ALMOST OVER" sort of wore off with this realization.  Well, that coupled with:

...seriously, if I never write another paper it will be glorious.  I know that won't happen.  Not even close.  But maybe I can manage a few months of no paper writing?  Maybe?  God I hope so, my brain is starting to make some disturbing noises while I stare at Microsoft Word going "What's my topic again?"

<.<  I plead the 5th.  I think this also applies to blog posts.  The hubster was telling me last night:

Hubster: "Okay! I'm going to bed"
Me: "Okay, I'm finishing up my blog posts, just one more due this week!"
Hubster: "That's great!  What's this one on?"
Me: "NO IDEA!"
Hubster: "You were way too happy saying that..."

Okay seriously, the topic for this blog sort of hit me at about 2AM when my brain had officially hit the "Fuck you, I'm done, sleep.  Sleep now.  No you can't keep working, I said I'm done, SLEEP WOMAN!"  ...yes I have arguments with myself, there's nothing wrong with that.  It's only a cause for concern when you start losing the arguments with yourself.  Then you should start to worry.  Probably.  Just sayin'.

Okay, I simply had to include this meme because when I read it I couldn't help but to literally laugh out loud (for a little too long) at the hilariousness of it all.  Granted, I might have found it so funny because there have been a few times working on various papers this semester when I have stared at a word and literally not been able to tell if I had the right tense of it.  Thank God for phone calls to my mom, a retired teacher.  Even if I'm pretty sure she's starting to wonder if I've lost my mind when I can easily spout off "3-dollar words" without hesitation but can't tell if I'm using "toward" correctly.  (Hint: I'm not, for some reason I consistently want to put a freaking "s" on the end of that word.  It's embarrassing.)

I foresee this happening for me, I really do.  I was pretty much like this at the end of my History mid-term, furiously scribbling away as my handwriting became progressively more like chicken-scratch than actual legible writing.  It was so bad I actually apologized to my teacher when I handed it in.  Given the final exam has two more essay questions on it than the mid-term I have a feeling I'm going to have some pretty serious hand cramping issues.  BUT!  At least the final has an hour and 50 minutes allotted take it, instead of the 50 minutes for the mid-term!  Huzzah!

*does a happy dance*

It's almost oooooover!  It's almost oooooover!  I'm seriously not wiggling on my couch while writing this.  I'm not.  Really.  You can't prove a thing!  I'm still trying so, so hard to not utterly freak out though.  Every time I start getting really excited, my brain immediately has to be a total downer and remind me: "Oh, your final English paper is due on Tuesday in class and you work all weekend.  And you haven't started your 12-page research paper for your final History paper that's due Friday."  *Brain proceeds to point and laugh at me*  ...my brain is an asshole.

Ultimately, there are two ways that I see myself leaving my final classes.

Option 1:

And Option 2:

Honestly, I think both are going to be fairly accurate.  So, so close.  It's so close.  I can taste the freedom, I can imagine going to sleep and NOT having to set my alarm and being able to sleep for hours and hours.  Oh such glorious sleep.  How I miss you so much.  It's going to be like getting to see an old friend after months apart, where all you want to do is hug each other and not let go because if you let go, they might go away again.  SLEEEEEP!  Still, it's almost over.  Sure I have a lot of work left and an obscene amount of writing left to do for various papers or assignments, but it's still almost over.  The light is at the end of the tunnel, it's so close.  Just a little longer... and remember:

 
 

Entry #9 (Eng 102) - Music is the Breath of Life

It speaks the feelings we can't describe with our own words

 Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  All too often I would hear a song and follow along to the lyrics and get a sense of "this song is absolutely about how I'm feeling."  Whether it was a situation at school or at home or just personal to me, music became a way to find understanding, a way to feel as though I wasn't the only person feeling that way.  How could I be with someone who has captured that feeling so poignantly in the lyrics of a song?  

As I've gotten older I've come to realize that my feelings toward music isn't unique to just me.  I use it as a tool in a lot of ways.  Sometimes it's a stress-reliever.  Sometimes music becomes my inspiration.  Sometimes I crank it up in the car and start a playlist with heavy base music to help me wake up or 'pump up' for a long day ahead.  I've used music to relax or to psych myself up before a difficult test.  Sometimes I just play it and have it in the background while I'm working on things because it's soothing to have the music there instead of just silence.  

With the recent writing project we've been working on in my English class about the power of media, I pretty much immediately knew I wanted to write about the power of music.  It's fascinated me for a long time and in studying history as well I've seen how music has played an integral part of a lot of major movements throughout history.  Through my own experiences I've seen how personal and powerful music can make me feel, so in a way I wasn't surprised to find out that music could create such a powerful impact within social movements. 

 I've noticed, and admittedly I've been watching for this, how many people listen to music on their phones.  Around campus I see innumerable amounts of people with earbuds in, scrolling through their phones while listening to whatever playlist they have going.  I've seen the same at work, when CNA's go to the mounted computers to do their charting, more than a few play music on their phones.  Some even have music playing faintly from their phones in their pockets while they're working on getting patient's up and ready for the day first thing in the morning.  I've also noticed that what they listen to has a lot to do with their mood.  In the mornings the music is usually upbeat, something they play and work to, something which sets a pace for them.  Later throughout the day the music tends to end up shifting towards more of what I would call "disgruntled" music.  That is, music which tends to have a heavier beat and is a bit more expressive of emotions that lean more towards the angry and annoyed emotions.  At work, music tends to become a form of stress relief.  

I admit I'm guilty of judging some music before I really give it a chance.  I've discovered that if I stop judging music first and give it a chance, often I find myself pleasantly surprised.  Now, angry, screaming music isn't exactly my preferred choice in music.  However, when I've had a particularly stressful day, I have to say that when I can't scream, sometimes it helps to listen to someone else doing it. 

This is just a big no-no.  My 'favorite' song changes regularly.  Sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain sound and when that song comes on, woe onto any who reaches for the radio buttons.  Realizing this made certain interactions with my brothers and parents while in the car fighting over the radio stations suddenly make so much more sense.  I think I understand far better now why sometimes my parents wanted to listen to slower, more relaxing songs.  Lord knows with my brothers and me they probably needed all the calming influences they could get. 

When all the noise, all the beeps and random voices, and conversations, at work start to get to be a bit overwhelming, I've found myself replaying sons in my head.  Sometimes it's not even the whole song, just a line here or there or the chorus, something to focus on and keep my mind engaged instead of being pulled in all different directions from all that's happening around me.  For all the in-depth, grand scale ways that I have read about music being influential and impacting people and social movements and the sort, I have to say that the most immediate way that I see the power that music holds is how it applies to a person individually.  Then again, maybe that's what has given music the power to be so influential on a grander scale.  It isn't how it speaks to a whole group but rather how it speaks to the individual who becomes more engaged because of how the music reached to them and spoke to them on a personal level.  It just so happened that the music reached to a bunch of people in a similar way.  It's still fascinating to me, however it is that music reaches to people and impacts them and changes them and influences them.  I'm curious to know more about how it affects others, to hear from them how they feel when they listen to music.  If you read this and you have felt in some way similar to what I've described, I really would like to hear your thoughts about it.  Till next time.

 

Entry #8 (Eng 102) - I'm Not As Think As You Sick I Am!

I'm staring at you blankly because my brain is drowning in snot...

Or: Sharing is Caring...

At least "Sharing is Caring" is the hubster's excuse for getting me sick!  Not cool, not cool at all.  I am displeased.  *blows nose for 10 minutes*  Ugh.

The vacant stare, mouth slightly open in an effort to continue breathing, watery eyes, slow responses... these are familiar symptoms.  I imagine they're states of being that most of us have become intimately familiar with at one time or another.  Being sick sucks and let's face it, everyone has been sick at one point or another.  I much preferred being sick as a kid.  Why?  You got to stay home from school and vegetate on the couch watching TV all day while being generally pathetic and whiny.  As an adult?  It doesn't quite work that way.  It goes something a little more like...

In all honesty I wish that I could say I didn't do this.  ...but I do.  Not more than 15 minutes ago I was sitting on my couch looking up memes for this post and had a tissue stuffed up my left nostril.  Why?  Because the damn thing is allowing no air movement yet still continues to somehow drip like that leaky faucet in the staff bathroom that no one bothers to fix. 

Movies lie!  They lie!  Evil little liars.  They do it all wrong.  People have colds in a movie and they look like they just got airbrushed by a professional makeup artist.  There's no pathetic-ness, no red, raw nose, no mouth-breathing!  Where is the mouth-breathing?!  LIES!  LIIIIIIIIIES!  I wish I looked half that good when I'm not sick, let alone when I'm constantly sniffling and groaning and sneezing the really loud monster kind of sneezes that scare small animals and children.  Come on, admit it, I'm not the only one like this.  Please tell me I'm not alone in this.  ...please? 

This couldn't be more accurate.  I don't have time for being sick this week.  Why did it have to happen now?  I've got so much stuff to doooooo!  Doesn't it always seem like it happens that way?  You end up getting sick at the "absolute worst time."  It never fails that there's always six billion things that have to be done "right friggin now" but nooooo, now is when your body decided to crap out and get sick.  Now you have to sluggishly slog your way through things while desperately hoping that you don't end up having to re-do everything you've already done because you did it with "sick brain" intelligence. 

Does this work?  I have to practically beg to call off from work and it never fails I end up feeling so guilty about it I wish I'd just gone in anyway.  I mean, so I'm coughing up a lung in coughing fits while sitting completely still and I'd be walking around non-stop and talking to patients and family and staff for 16 hours, so it would be far worse to go in.  Still... Maybe I should try this next time.  I wonder if they'd take that as an acceptable excuse for calling off.  Does anyone else have issues like this or am I just really weird for feeling guilty for being sick and needing to stay home from work? 

Just when you think you're going to have a wonderful, peaceful, amazing moment of breathing through BOTH nostrils.... NOPE!  Just kidding!  Total psych!  And the worst part?  As your sinuses are shifting like crazy, it makes the inside of your skull itch and throb with shifting pressure.  And then the sneezing commences!  Down with the sneezing!  Oh, and the watering eyes as it feels like your sinus cavities are being crawled around on by tiny moving bugs that refuse to stop.  Yuuuuup, it's fun.  Gotta love it.  So what stories might any of you guys have about being sick?  Is it anything like I've described?  Better, worse?  What kind of differences does it seem like there are between being sick as a kid to as an adult?  Let me know in the comments!

 

Entry #7 (Eng 102) - Hashtag Nation

What the crap people...

I really don't get it.  I see hashtags everywhere, it's kind of impossible to miss them at this point.  Yet I still don't quite get it.  I have to say that I do feel a bit more enlightened about their origins and what the original purpose for them is (I never knew they actually serve to categorize posts relating to the topic that's "hashtagged" - that's pretty cool).  Still, what's the deal with all the hashtags?  

I think I'm a bit on the fence in regard to hashtags.  I can see how there are ways that the use of hashtags could be really amazing.  The ALS challenge, calls for various social movements like Black Lives Matter and even the use of them in the wake of disasters or terrorist attacks around the world to show unity and general solidarity can be amazing things.   I think in many ways hashtags can be used to start conversations and to push issues into the spotlight which might otherwise be seen as taboo or shied away from.  Though I do have to wonder, as others have in articles I've read, whether or not these 'armchair' social movement is actually making any real changes.  The "Me Too" hashtag is a pretty powerful one and it has sparked conversation - but for how long?  Will the power behind these hashtag movements have enough steam to actually see real change come from the discussions?  

And then there's the random shit hashtags.  Are these seriously necessary?  Do you really have to hashtag all this random stuff with pictures of your food?  Is it that big of a deal that you need to hashtag how blessed you feel because you saw a pretty sunset?  Are these things necessary to somehow enrich your or other's lives?  What's the point?  Seriously.  Someone please tell me!  I don't get it!  Please tell me I haven't already managed to somehow be over the hill that I'm failing to grasp the absolute importance of hashtagging your morning coffee with something about Monday blues. 

This.  ALL of this.  I've seen it.  I don't even have Twitter and I've still somehow managed to see this happen.  How many hashtags do you really need to have people?  2-3 is plenty.  Stop.  Staaaaap.  Learn some restraint!  Less is more.  A lot less.  Please.  For the sake of our sanity!  This is getting out of hand. 

This needs to be the only form of hashtag that is permissible outside of social movement hashtags.  I do not need to know that you're having "first world problems" nor do I particularly care if you're having "TGIF" or just about anything else  At least if you're going to use a hashtag for random, inane crap, limit yourself to one or two.  If you have more lines of hashtags than you do of actual written words about whatever it is you're talking about you're doing it wrong.  Gah!  I really am just very lost on why this is so popular for random things. 

I use this meme quite sarcastically.  This post needs no hashtags.  Why?  Because they aren't necessary!  Maybe this is the moment I should use one and do a "#firstworldproblems" or something.  It seems like talking about (or complaining over) the needless random use of hashtags is absolutely a first world problem.  Still.  Maybe someone can explain why everything seems to have a hashtag nowadays.  The social movements or unity support after tragedies I can understand, I support that, I get it.  Complaining about your Monday with a hashtag instead of just complaining about your Monday and why it sucks is apparently beyond my comprehension however.  Someone... please... enlighten me?  Explain this?  Somehow?  What am I missing?  Put me out of my misery and leave a comment to help enlighten me on this matter.  Till next time!

 

EC Entry (Eng 102) - A Love Story for the Ages

Capitalism For All!  Or...for some...

So, watching Michael Moore's movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" is kind of a tough pill to swallow.  I personally see a lot of issues with the way that America is run.  The saying "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" seems particularly apt at this point in time.  I have to say that I believe that Michael Moore had a very good point and a good message with his movie.  Although, I think at times the problem faced is that HOW he spreads this information is seen with hesitation. 

In fact, searching for memes with "Michael Moore Memes" turns up an obscene number of very, very negative responses.  I'm sure that a large part of them has to do with people who are so against what he's saying that it doesn't matter he says - they'll disagree with it.  That's what happens when you polarize a group like the American people.  You get both ends of the spectrum.  Moore does a great job of making the story personal.  The "Dead Peasants" aspect of corporations taking insurance policies out on rank and file workers is enough to make anyone with a conscience disgusted.  It's sad, really.  Moore offers a lot of interviews and a lot of facts and supporting research to show that he is on the right track, that he is speaking some truths.  However, he pushes his message with such vehemence that sometimes it seems like his message is lost.  It's not so much what he says but how he says it. 

This, I believe, is what things come down to.  Greed.  Those who are rich want to get richer.  They're giving themselves tax breaks that leaves the burden upon the middle class.  Even today the gap between the incomes of the rich and the middle class is growing even larger.  There are issues with the American economy.  There are issues with the American government and the amount of "corporate interest" in politics.  This is a problem. 

I think Michael Moore is trying his best to spread the message and get it out there, but there's something lost in translation.  The near fanaticism that Moore seems to encourage and engender don't really mesh with the common American.  We can't expect to make a living while trying to protest the way things are going.  The system is, simply put, corrupt.  How do we change it?  How can we hope to change it?  Instead of saying "do something" it might prove more helpful and more productive to start answering those questions.  While it's important to spread this information, to give the knowledge to people and spark people's curiosity and make them look into things for themselves the issue still boils down to "what can we even hope to do?"  Answer that for me.  Show people what can be done that doesn't require us to risk losing our jobs or the ability to provide for our families.  That would be more mobilizing to me, at least.  In short, good message.  It's emotional.  It's full of information.  But it still doesn't help to know what to do to change how things are.  Do any of you know of ways that the average American can do something to encourage change?  For an entire system that reeks of corruption - what can be done to fix it?  Honestly?  I'd really like to know. 

 

Entry #6 (Eng 102) - Who's Stressed?

Say it ain't so...

 Really.  I handle stress like a pro!  I hold it all inside till my eye starts twitching and I think my blood pressure has hit its mark in 'stroke range' and then I just walk outside and take one of my patented "sanity breaks" to not kill or go off on people!  It works great!  ...mostly.  ...sort of... 

Every weekend, I wake up at 4:30 in the morning, drive to pick up my co-worker and drop off my husband who watched her daughter, then we drive to work (and usually run through Starbucks because, well, caffeine).  At about 6:30am, we walk inside the building and clock in, staring down a 16 hour shift.  Essentially, on Saturday morning, I walk into work like the above meme.  I am back.  I'm ready for this.  Let's do this!  By the time I'm leaving work at 10:30pm on Sunday? 

The thing is, this cycle happens -every- weekend.  And every weekend I leave work thinking "there's no way I can keep doing this.  Why do I keep doing this to myself?  I'm too old for this, I hurt too much, I need to find a job closer to home, or one with shorter shifts.. something."  And yet, every Saturday, I repeat the same cycle!  Sure some of it is that I love my 'people' aka - my patients.  I do.  Even when they stress me out so badly I can't see straight, I still love them.  But they still stress me out.  Just about everything except leaving work stresses me out. 

As I said, my breaks at work are my 'sanity' breaks.  I need them.  Literally, I need them.  Those 15 minutes are the moments where I regroup myself and remind myself that no, it is not okay for me to go of on someone.  And no, I can't completely ignore them, no matter how many times they repeatedly scream my name until I ask them what they need and it's something like "I don't know."  Seriously?  You just sat there saying "Elka, Elka, Elka" (don't ask me why, that's one of my patient's names for me.  No idea where it came from) and when I ask her what she needs, she stares blankly at me and says "I don't know."  And that's about the point in my head that I imagine myself repeatedly beating my head on the wall.  That's why I take my 'sanity breaks'.  They're a necessary part of survival! 

<.<  Ok, so this might be more my speed.  Sometimes I really think that I handle things great.  I organize myself, I stick to a routine, I have a clue what I'm doing.  And then, it never fails, something happens and I feel like that guy.  A lot of things go through my head on the weekends at work.  I just end up staring at things and feel my brain chugging trying to figure out a response that isn't profanity-laden.  Usually, I manage to sort something out, but the profanity-laden speech is still rolling around like marbles inside my head. 

Every weekend, I try so hard to start my day with a positive outlook.  I really do.  I start my day with the best of intentions!  And then life and reality set in and I realize it's more of the same.  Or not the same but still strange and interesting ways to stress me right the hell out.  Sometimes, I seriously wonder if some kind of cosmic force is out there, watching my weekends like some people watch afternoon soap operas and laughing their cosmic asses off at me.  When it comes down to it though, by the time I leave on Sunday night, I essentially feel like this:

Every weekend, I leave thinking "Oh my God I'm going to drink a whole bottle of wine by myself, I'm so done with this weekend!"  Admittedly, by the time I get home (between 11:30 to midnight), I'm just happy if I can manage to eat dinner without falling asleep mid-bite.  Still, as stressful as it is, I keep going back.  Why?  Because I love being a nurse.  It's exhausting and stressful beyond belief, but I still love it.  And I'm lucky that I have some pretty awesome co-workers that make the day a lot more tolerable.  This being Friday night, I'm finishing up this post staring down the fact I'm going into another weekend.  I know, again, I'll start with the same hopeful outlook when I walk into work tomorrow morning.  And I also know that by the time I leave on Sunday night, I'll be practically running for my car thinking "Oh thank god the weekend is over!"  Am I the only one who feels this way though?  We all have stresses in our lives - personal, school, work - surely I'm not the only one who deals with this kind of stress and has these kinds of thoughts.  Man I hope I'm not the only one!  Leave some comments and give me your feedback, let me know about your own stressful situations and how you guys deal with them.  Maybe I can learn some new ways to deal with stress!