Warning to the readers: This is a long blog. If you want to read all of it then start at the top, BUT if you want to know about the MAYOR CANDIDATE skip down to the bottom (find the bold ‘skip to line‘ and find out the exciting news of who I’m promoting to be MAYOR of our awesome little city, Doniphan.
Ah, Winter Break!! Those words have the sweetest ring to it. It means I have a glorious thirty days off (until January 14) to relax, recharge my batteries, and get ready for my last semester of RN school. I have a total of sixteen weeks left. They will consist of eight weeks of class and then eight weeks of preceptor, where I follow a nurse around. The light at the end of my tunnel is getting just a little brighter, I can almost hear the whistle of the train as it is on its way into the depot called graduation.
At final conference the other day we were discussing the surreal feeling of what I know now as opposed to what I knew a short three semesters ago. I spent Thanksgiving doing blood pressures for family members (old school, stethoscope and cuff); even a year ago this was a new skill that I was practicing to pass my ‘check-off’ with the instructors. Not only do I have the ability to get the BP reading, I can now start ruling things out to what is causing the spike or drop. It’s CRAZY! I still have a LONG way to go, but I know it will come…in time. Some may freak out when they read ‘in time’ and think that I will be out on the streets in sixteen weeks working on people. Every day is a learning experience in any job, just as I will continue to learn daily after graduation at my job; the more I learn the more I will be able to help others.
Though I’ve gained so much on one level, I feel like I’ve lost a lot on other levels. Friendships. I’ve been living n a bubble for two years that has consisted in study, school, clinical, and books. Not many people from my previous RN existence enjoys sitting with a book on the weekends. They’ve continued on their own paths, and I’ve forged mine. I’ve made friends in school, and some of us may be working together in the future, but we only have sixteen weeks left. These people have been my support group, my cheering squad, the only ones who understand what it’s truly been like the past three semesters because they’ve been there in the trenches with me, and we’ll be parting ways in May. No more seeing one another and knowing that someone out there is wishing upon the same bright star, just hoping and praying that we get that assignment done or pass the test and be able to continue. Each day is unknown, not given…we earn it day by day, with enough stress to light New York City if it could be turned into energy.
Cleanliness. I’m lucky to clean my house once a month. I shower daily, but shaving is a luxury. Some days I just don’t care. If I have two hours that I can sit without a book, I sit without doing ANYTHING…including cleaning. Not that I don’t want ‘clean’, it’s just not the highest priority that it was before. I have Clorox clean-up wipes, swipe it around the toilet and counter area…it feels/looks clean. :)
The one I miss most, my relationship with God. I know it’s my own fault, and I attempt to keep things going. I pray and I read my Bible (have it on my phone to make it more convenient); but I know that I’m not 100%. I get to church and my brain is off trying to figure out what body parts are connected and how they function, and I get distracted (especially if I have a test). Then I feel guilty, because God has given me so much. He has provided for me throughout this whole ordeal, and He continues to give (He’s awesome like that!). I’m working on it, it’s a daily thing, and will continue to be daily ~ that’s why it’s called a ‘relationship’. :)
Then my health. I’m fat, stress induced fatness. I can’t breath in my clothes. I love stretchy clothing, it allows one to breath when you bend over to tie your shoe strings. Soon, very soon, I will have my life back and I can start making the changes that are required to make me the best person I can be. One step, one day at a time.
Skip to line: MAYOR CANDIDATE!!
Enough about me, now for the news that has possibly grabbed your attention…who’s the one running for MAYOR that I’m promoting? Well, he’s the first guy in my life. He feed me candy corn on the way home from the hospital because I was crying and he was trying to make me be quite (he was given the candy corn to ‘be quite’). He used to fix my hair for me, putting it up in a ponytail and containing the wild mane that had a life of it’s own. He would allow me to play GI Joe with him; we had the ultimate living arrangements for it: green shag carpet (grass) and a brown couch (the mountain). On occasion (very rare) he would play dolls/dress up with me. If you haven’t guessed yet, it’s non other than my brother…Riley March.
Crazy I know. Many of you know him, know of him, or have had some contact with him at some point in your life. Whether it was pranks in school (usually with a trusty sidekick – Mike Jones), through computer work (fixing that foreign object that sits on your desk that has a life of its own), or through church related activities. He’s the funny guy that can make you laugh, he’s the guy that can make you want to scream because he can be frustrating…oh wait, that’s probably only because I’m his little sister. Most importantly he’s true, what you see is what you get, he’s faithful, and he loves this city and the people that live here. Our parents, Dalton and Deborah March, raised us in Doniphan; instilling a love of the community and surrounding area in us. I may not always agree with him, but I know that he loves this city and the people of the community and he will do whatever he can to make this city a place that people will want to come to. And that’s what we want in a Mayor, right? Someone that will do what they can to make our city a better place, a place that people will want to come to.
And that folks is why I am supporting, promoting, standing behind a guy that I know inside and out; because I know that he will do what he can to make this city the best place possible, a place that people will want to come.
Take care…ERM