Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts? Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts.

Ok, attempt #2 at that whole life update thing.  Get ready for a spewing of life tidbits.

1. I have begun my rotation... and thus far I'm actually liking it.  I've informed my preceptor of my, um, 'sensitivities', and she said that we'd be sure to keep me out of the OR and dialysis.  I do have to go to the cancer center next week though and observe chemo - not super psyched about that, but I'll make it through (probably).  Thus far I've done a lot of dispensing, filling the automatic Pyxis med machines, checking orders, stocking, etc.  I made a friend on the behavioral health wing ;) (he seemed to like me, anyhow), I rushed along with a pharmacist to give Ativan to a seizing patient (thank heaven the pre-dispense jog through the hospital got my blood pressure up - that whole bit freaked me out a touch), but I will never have to respond to a code (my hospital just doesn't have pharmacists do that, thank the Lord). We'll see how the rest goes... I've made it through my first week relatively unscathed.
2. I have become a couponer, and I kind of love it. And by kind of love it, I mean I'm kind of addicted.  For example, I got 5 full sized body washes (a Nivea for myself and 4 Gilette's for Brian) and a deodorant for free today.  I actually saved so much at Harris Teeter the other week, via a combo of strategic couponing and sale buying, that the woman behind me in line stopped me in the parking lot and asked me how I saved so much money! Lol, I felt a bit like a grocery store rockstar. (I have no skills compared to the stay-at-home mom's who blog all the deals and are hardcore deal-ers though, but then again, I also go to school full time AND work on top of that.  So I don't do too shabbily  Just because I love you all : www.myfrugaladventures.com  I subscribe to the feed and then take a peek at my Google reader a few times a day.)  Anyhow, I mostly just wanted to brag about my sweet body wash deal of the day.
3. I'm an official grad student now, in full swing.  I finished my first year (4.0, boo-mutherfuckin-yah.), I'm sufficiently broke and well into debt (but living just fine that way), and am OVER getting drunk on a weekday (for the most part ;) ).
4. I'm still amazingly in love with Brian.  We've been together for more than a year and a half, so now it's not all daisies and roses... it's just a more complete kind of perfect now, the kind where we actually get on each other's nerves from time to time, where we're less than kind to each other after a particularly long day, where gross biological functions are no longer a secret.  I love it exactly the way it is, because it feels more real now - it feels like this is an actual relationship that we both want so insanely much, that we're actually committed to making work.  We got together at a very interesting point in our lives, where most everything was glitter and gold: I felt immense freedom after getting out of a relationship that lasted too long, it was our last semester of college (which lends itself very well to a happy-go-lucky outlook on life), we both had good jobs that we loved, we were surrounded by some of our best friends (who were all at very hunky dory points in their lives as well).  Then we had the excitement of the "big adventure" of moving across the country to a brand new life!!! Free with commitment to grad school this month only~! (you know, before either of us had any idea how *hard* it would be).  Therefore, for the first eight months or so of our relationship, we really were in a honeymoon period - everything was great, so naturally we were great.  That has always worried me the teensiest bit, that once things faded back into normal, that our love might... well, fade too.  Quite the contrary.  Having to rely completely and solely upon each other for advice, support, and comfort, sharing a unique, life-changing experience with just the other, all of it has really strengthened the bond  between us, to the point where I swear it's nearly tangible.  Very, very reassuring.
5. Combining 3 and 4 above, I'm very eager for a time when Brian and I won't be in our current stressed situation (financial stress, no family or solid friends to alleviate some of that stress, him stressing about beginning a career/me incessantly stressing about school).  But not too eager - when we're 40, 50, 60, we're going to remember back to these formative times, and it'll make us laugh. It'll make for good stories to tell.  It'll make us stronger.  We're working hard now to set up a good future for ourselves, and it'll make us appreciate what we have that much more (you know, in about a decade when we actually have it).
6. (I'm using far too many parenthetical sidebars in this post.  Damn my conversational style.)
7. We are painting the bedroom, 'Niagara Falls'.  In less than 48 hours.  Thank you Mom and Dad for my incredibly generous Lowe's gift card for Christmas - though it was originally intended to be used to replace the kitchen sink I always bitch about, I'm much happier putting it to use this way.  I lived in a dorm for the 1st three years of college, and the entire year I lived in a house in Tucson, I didn't put a single thing on the walls.  I'm ready to have a bedroom that looks 'homey'.  The remainder of the giftcard will be spent making a headboard and possibly retiling the shower.  I'll post pictures if I don't screw everything up colossally.

And that's about it for now.  I still had the 'egh, now I've opened blogger and I don't feel like updating anymore' moment, but I finished. 

Just for you.

You're welcome.

You owe me one ;)