da dum dum dum da da

so i haven't written in here in a while. what've i been up to? well.. i've been making my way through my final semester of nursing school. even though it hasn't been terribly busy compared to the course load of other semesters, i still find ways to procrastinate and waste time, and end up being super-busy as i cram a ton of work into the course of a few days. some things never change...

my preceptorship has been an eye-opening experience. i still have so much that i need to learn, there are so many more skills that i need to acquire, and i definitely need to work faster. at this point, as a novice, i feel very far-removed from experienced nurses. sometimes i get caught up in making sure i make the grade and obsess about doing well in my tests. but as nik (appropriately) reminded me, it's not about getting the grade or passing boards, it's about doing right by your patients and having the information you need to know when your patients need it.

i definitely need to study/work harder. so for the next couple of weeks, i'll be working on knowing what i need to know to be a safe and effective nurse.. and hopefully i'll be able to pass the boards in the process.

another thing that i've been working on is my running. after the disneyland half, i set up a pretty ambitious goal of running 25 miles per week before the end of the year. so i've been tacking on the miles each week, and have been keeping a religious running schedule. up until last week, i had actually worked myself up to 21 miles a week. but.. unfortunately, between the rainy weather and getting the flu, i haven't been out to running much this week. now that i'm in the recovery stages of the flu, i plan to get back to running soon (maybe tomorrow). still have a week or so left!

also, if you haven't figured it out yet, i have a significant other. nik and i have been going out since february, so there've been a lot of trips up to the bay area on his part and lots of trips down to l.a. on my part. aside from the long-distance, things have been going wonderfully. the long-distance aspect of the relationship can be tough, but lots of phone calls, letters, and postcards, along with frequent visits do help.

so.. on to the primary reason for this post: I'M GRADUATING TOMORROW! it's been a tough year and half, but i made it out in one piece--mostly through support from nik, my family, friends, and classmates... i feel very lucky to have been surrounded such a good group of people throughout this time.

the title of this post? it goes to the tune of 'pomp and circumstance'.