YKYW - Nursing Student Blog

I’ve been messing around with redesigning my sites so that I can use widgets. While looking around at the widgets out there, I couldn’t find one that would let me put buttons (or chicklets) in the sidebar. So, I decided to write my own — Jax Buttons! (Creative title, isn’t it?) You can see a working example of it over at my sandbox.

Instructions
———-

- Unzip the file.
- Upload images to a folder on your server, such as /wp-images or /images.
- If you are not from Texas and would like to include your state,
upload a file named state.gif to your images directory.
- Open jaxbuttons.php and change $icons_baseurl=”http://www.yourwebiste.net/images”
to the website URL where your images are stored. Do NOT include trailing slash (/).
- Save changes.
- Upload jaxbuttons.php to your /wp-content/plugins directory.
- Activate plugin.
- Add the widget to an active sidebar and configure the options.
- Be sure NOT to include the http:// in the URLs.
- Save changes and you’re done!

I’m sure there are more buttons out there that should be included. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or issues.
http://www.youknowyouwanna.net;/downloads/jaxbuttons.zip;Jax Buttons v0.5;

As the nursing school application deadline approaches, I’m trying to make sure I have done everything I need to do.

I’ve already:

• Attended an information session
• Completed an application for college admission
• Completed the NET, scoring a minimum of 50 on both the Composite Reading and Overall Composite Math sections
• Completed the following Nursing prerequisite courses:
  • ENGL 1301 (Comp I)
  • MATH 1314 (College Algebra)
  • BIOL 2401 (Anatomy & Physiology)
  • PSYC 2301 (General Psychology)
• Completed any other support courses which apply to the nursing curriculum (these are not required prior to starting the nursing program):
  • BIOL 2402 (Anatomy & Physiology II; Starting Summer II, will be finished in time to show on my application)
  • BIOL 2420 (Microbiology; Taking this fall, will not count for application purposes)
  • PSYC 2314 (Life Span, Growth & Development)
  • SPCH 1311 (Speech Communications)
  • Humanities elective (American Literature)
• Physical Examination and immunization documentation

I still need to:

• Take Healthcare provider level CPR course
• Obtain official copy of NET score sheet
• Obtain official transcripts from each college attended
• Obtain catalog course descriptions for all courses taken at another university which apply to the nursing curriculum
• Complete nursing application form
• Submit all materials by application deadline

Hmm, looks like I need to get busy!

(and worth every penny!) 

I found this meme while surfing BlogExplosion and thought I share it since I haven’t been writing much lately:

How much are you really worth?

Look over the list below, taking the dollar amounts from each of the things you have done and add it up…then post how much you are worth in your blog title.

1. Have gone past first base–$4
2. Have had sexual intercourse– $5
3. Have only went as far as first base– $3
4. Have smoked an unfiltered cigarette or cigar– $5
5. Have gotten so drunk, you’ve thrown up– $5
6. Have gone skinny dipping– $3
7. Have kissed someone who was not a member of your family– $4
8. Have had more than one bf/gf at the same time– $2
9. Have cheated on someone you are in a commited relationship with– $2
10. Have fallen asleep during class– $0.50
11. Have cheated on a quiz– $1
12. Have been expelled– $5
13. Have been in a fist fight– $3
14. Have given oral– $5
15. Have received oral– $5
16. Have prank called the cops– $3
17. Have stolen something from a store– $2
18. Have done some form of illegal drugs– $5
19. Have dyed your hair a color that evokes stares– $0.50
20. Have done something of a sexual nature with someone at least 5 yrs older than you– $3
21. Have dated someone over 18 while you were under 18– $4
22. Have eaten an entire bag of Oreos– $0.50
23. Have cried yourself to sleep over someone– $1
24. Have said you love someone but didn’t actually mean it– $1
25. Have ever been in love– $4
26. Have ever been in lust–$0.01
27. Have gotten caught doing something that you shouldn’t have been doing– $1
28. Have performed some sort of sexual activity in a house of worship– $10
29. Have gotten arrested– $5
30. Have spent a night in jail–$7
31. Have made out with someone at the movies– $2
32. Have peed in a pool– $0.03
33. Have played spin the bottle– $1
34. Have done something that you regret– $3
35. Have been in love with someone that you never told–$0.02

I wish I remembered this more often than I do:

Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing:  there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

I spent a few days with my family in Houston last week, and so I missed the first edition of Change of Shift.  This is a new nursing blog carnival and looks to be a great way for nurses around the world to share stories.  By encouraging submission from medical, nursing and patient viewpoints, Change of Shift really succeeds in presenting a varied and lively perspective on nursing!

While we were at the lake this weekend, I was added to 25peeps.com.  It’s an interesting way to find new blogs.  If I get enough clicks on my picture and send enough people to 25peeps.com using my link, then I get to stay on the front page and gain visibility.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Anybody want to play fantasy football with me through Yahoo?  Let me know and I will send you the info.

I’ve seen this in a few places, but it amuses me, so here it is in case you haven’t seen it:

10 reasons gay marriage will ruin our society

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08 ) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Although my lack of new entries doesn’t make it obvious, we did make it home safe and sound from California.  California is such a gorgeous place that I can understand the motivation for a song advocating “Go West.”  I was going to wait and write up a grand post, complete with pictures, but we have over 300 photos from the trip!  So, I thought I’d give a quick update while working on the sorting, cropping and resizing.

We made it home late Saturday night, and spent Sunday doing laundry and trying to adjust to the time and temperature differences.  Sunday evening we got together with SK’s family for her birthday dinner.  I got up bright and early Monday morning to register for my fall classes.  I signed up for Microbiology, US Government and Texas Government.  I will probably only take Microbiology, but I wanted to reserve my seat in the government classes since they are online.  Depending on how things work out, I might go ahead and take them because I will need them to finish up my core program.

Today I went to the downtown Dallas campus to take the NET (nursing entrance test) and get my second hepatitis B shot.  Going into it, I was a little worried about taking the NET because I wasn’t really sure what to expect (not to mention my general test anxiety).  I wasn’t too worried because I only needed 50% and it just covers basic math and reading comprehension.  I shouldn’t have been worried at all — I made a 95 on the math and a 92 on the reading and ranked in the 99th percentile nationwide.  Now that I can cross these two things off my list, I am almost ready to apply for Spring admission to the nursing program.

Now it’s time to watch So You Think You Can Dance, and play some poker.

Tomorrow morning, SK and I are heading to California for a week to celebrate our birthdays.  We’ll be in San Jose, San Francisco, Napa, Monterey, and Mendocino.  From a sunrise hot air balloon ride, to winery tours, and sunset dinners overlooking the ocean, it is a dream vacation.

But then, dream vacations becoming reality shouldn’t surprise me since finding the love of my life is already one dream come true.

Thank you, SK, for this dream and all the others that I will share with you.