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Look who's back, back again...  Its 4 freakin AM and I am wide awake thanks to the 20 some ounces of coffee I decided to drink at midnight. Why you ask? I was just craving coffee really bad but I didn't need it. No I am not studying for any exams since I'm on my break from PA school...probably why I was craving coffee in the first place, haven't had any in over 2 weeks. I did the same thing last week, had coffee at night and couldn't fall asleep. I took 2 benadryls which is good enough to knock anybody out but not me! What the hell....I should just start studying! That'll put me to sleep. I am so tired but can't sleep, I can't stand this feeling. As for my super-long 2 week break, let's just say I got to OD on sleep and catch up with life outside school. It was really weird not having to study every friggin day. One day I actually woke up at 6am all worried about getting behind schedule and my first thought was "What exam do I need to study for today?" I freaked out for a minute when I couldn't think of it but then I looked around and realized I was at home and then remembered I was on break. If that's not post-traumatic stress, then I don't know what is! :) Other random things I did during my break....Jury Duty - wasted 6 hours of my life, nobody got selected. I got diagnosed with myopia, thanks to grad school - got glasses for that. Now hopefully I will be able to see in class, which is always a good thing. Ate a lot of homecooked food which was a nice treat. Got to see my crazy extended family, always entertaining. So, overall break was nice but the 2 weeks flew by way too fast. I wish I could have taken a real vacation like some of my friends from school. One of them went to Japan for a week (Of course, I thought of Kaylon when she told me about her plans). But then I was reminded of how much money I need for school so all vacation plans will have to wait until after June 2010 (I think that's when I graduate?) Anyway, I go back to hell on Sunday :( The next quarter is going to be a bitch. Be prepared for a lot of venting and bitching...that's if I get the time to do that! Ok my laptop is dying so that means I should try to sleep again. I would want nothing more than bitch about school right now but I have NO energy for that. I am in a chronic state of being tired ALL THE TIME. I don't know how I'll survive the whole year. I am going to have major ulcers by the end of the month. In good news, looks like I will make it through the first quarter, my grades are actually a lot better than I expected - I don't think I even got these grades in undergrad. Craziness, right? I get good grades in a place where it doesn't matter because nobody is going to ask me what I got in anatomy when I'm out practicing. Anyway, quarter break coming up soon!! August 22!!! CANNOT WAIT. Those 2 weeks off are going to be so sweet. I don't even care if I don't do anything exciting, just not being constantly stressed out will be blissful. I still can't believe I'm almost done with this quarter. Saw the coolest thing in cadaver lab today- all our cadavers have the brain taken out of them but somehow they forgot to take it out in one of the bodies. So we actually saw them drilling into the skull and take the whole thing out. It was awesome. I touched the brain - granted it was a dead guy's brain, but it was still pretty exciting. OK I can't form any more sentences without trying to squeeze in crazy anatomy terms so I quit. The weather has been disgusting lately. We've been getting hit with soooo much snow. And if its not snowing its freakishly cold. Times like these I wish I was going to PA school in Texas or Arizona or something. Speaking of which, I got an interview at Cornell! But needless to say, I won't be going. Cornell was my second choice but since I got into my first, who cares about the second right? And few months ago I also found out that Cornell's PA program isn't a Master's program, they just give you a "certificate of PA studies." I am not studying my butt off and putting myself in massive debt just to get a certificate. So it all happened for the best. I went to a baby shower today, it was interesting. There were a lot of pregnant women there. My friend Kerry who got married last March is pregnant too! She's due in June! Craziness. Makes me feel so old...wasn't it yesterday when I was in high school?! Anyway, work has been crazier than ever especially since my pharmacy manager is on vacation for 3 weeks. We're stuck with stupid floater pharmacists to cover his shifts. And they are all sooo bad at their job. These people have no common sense or people skills, it amazes me how they went through Pharmacy school. My pharmacy won the award for fewest prescription "errors" in the month of January! They've been having this contest thingy for a year now and we've never won because there's always some people that mess up our percentage. Me & the other 2 senior techs are very careful but the part-timers don't care. Anyway, they had a little party for us on Friday. Our supervisor printed out the statistics for that month and I had the best percentage. I typed almost 900 prescriptions with only 2% updates/errors. The goal is to have 1% so I was pretty close. These updates are made after we first type in a prescription. So if you type the wrong drug or directions or whatever and the pharmacist tells you to change it, it counts as an "error." So its not errors that go unnoticed, don't want anyone to feel in danger when they go to fill a script! So this way they want us to get the Rx right the first time instead of changing it and wasting more time on it. I have to study for my Anatomy & Phys class. I am so bad about studying now, its hard since I haven't studied since last May. I don't even need this class but I thought it would be a good refresher before I start PA school. Our class got canceled last Wednesday because of the snow. That was a fun day. Even the friggin mall got shut down at like 4pm. Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad, people were just freaking out. But I wouldn't mind another snow day! Ok I'm gonna go waste more time so I don't have to study! :) For some reason, this whole week at work has been insanely busy. Monday was my day off but I got called in because they got slammed. Sure being the Walgreens slave that I am, I'm on call 24/7, call me anytime! Whatever. Yesterday we opened a whole hour late because the pharmacist got there 45 minutes late. Fortunately, there wasn't a line of cars in the drive thru as I was expecting. And then our extra help never showed up, she came to the store to pick up her damn paycheck & the manager told her to check with us at the pharmacy & she didn't even bother doing that or returning our phone call! Some people have like no sense of responsibility. To make things worse, my pharmacist made me stay 2 extra hours so I ended up working 10 and a half hours. I was literally sick after that, I felt nauseous & just passed out on my bed when I got home. And then today was just utter madness! I think we hit 400 prescriptions which like never happens at our store. And we never have enough help as it is so on a day like this we were just about ready to shoot ourselves. At one point, there were 4 cars in drive thru & a long line of people to check out & the phone was ringing off the hook. I was the only one running around because everybody else was tied up with something else. I almost had a nervous breakdown & just paged for help because there was no freakin way I was gonna get to all of that. I don't get why people have to rush all the time. I mean sure if I were in pain, I'd want my pills right away too but don't you want the correct medication & dosage? Aren't you glad we make sure your new medication does not interact with your other meds that your doctor obviously neglected to do? And then people have to know WHY their prescription costs 5 more dollars than last month!? Why the hell would you complain about 5 more bucks when there are people without insurance who pay like 100 bucks per prescription? Besides, I do not set the prices to your meds...your damn insurance does, so why not pick up the phone & yell at them? But god forbid you bother your wonderful insurance company. And then medicare!!!!!! I'm not even gonna go there! And if your doctor hasn't called in your prescription, why don't you call them instead of calling me 23 times? And yes, I do need your new insurance card because there is no secret agency that gives out everybody's insurance information to all the pharmacies. So many annoying things, I'll be up all night if I list them all. So glad I'll be out of that place in like 5 months. Days like these reassure me that my decision to not go to pharmacy school was definitely for the best. I don't care how much I'd get paid, that kind of stress on a daily basis is just not necessary. The best part of the day was filling a prescription for a cat named Tickle! How freakin adorable! And I will end on that ticklish note. I am super tired but I needed to vent so I can sleep peacefully. Current mood:  drained.
So I had Thursday off from work for Thanksgiving & I had requested Friday off at the hospital so I could get four days off. I was looking forward to this little break so I could go shopping and relax and prepare for the interviews and stuff...but of course, things never go as planned. Friday afternoon I started throwing up like a maniac, it was so bad I was afraid to put anything in my mouth. I ate pretty much nothing for the past 2 days and just laid around my house since I didn't have any strength to get up and walk around. Today I feel fine which means back to work tomorrow :( I guess I shouldn't complain since I have a vacation coming up. But the whole weekend sucked, thanksgiving was pretty blah this year, we didn't have a big family gathering with a Turkey that only like 5 people eat! My uncle who usually makes the Turkey and stuff was also sick so he didn't have people over at his house. Oh well...there's always next year. But who knows where I'll be next year if I get into grad school? Texas? New York? Florida? Boston?? Or maybe still in friggin Chicago? Only time will tell...ok time for bed! Well I've been doing nothing but working 30-40 hours a week. Now I do enjoy my job and everything but it gets kind of exhausting and I have no energy left at the end of the day to do anything else. I just fall asleep watching my TV shows that I record. A promotion might be in the near future for me...I am in the process of becoming a Senior Tech. I've been there for almost 4 years, i think i know all there is to know! I already do a lot of the things that the Sr. techs do so I might as well get to see that on my paycheck even if it is just 3 extra bucks an hour. I just have to learn some extra administrative stuff that I have no interest in. In other good news, I am finally done with my graduate school applications. Its done and over with and it is such a good feeling! Now I have to wait around anxiously to hear from all the schools. I think they'll be sending me supplemental applications. I can fill out the one for MCPHS since its on their website but I am so lazy! I don't know how I did it all back in college, it just amazes me now. Well speaking of lazy, I'm off to bed! Current mood:  sleepy.
Wow I didn't realize how long it has been since I wrote in here. I almost forgot my password for this thing. So a lotta stuff has happened in the six months that I haven't written! Let's see...graduation is done and over with. Its so weird not having to go to classes everyday and not being completely miserable all day long. But in a weird sick way I miss those days sometimes. I especially missed it when I was preparing for the GRE all summer long. Yes that was my exciting summer event, taking the friggin Graduate Record Examination. An exam worth absolutely nothing in my opinion. But whatever its over and I ended up doing far better than I had expected so its all good. I rocked the essay portion which was a nice surprise. The verbal wasn't so bad but the math was just a nightmare. Or at least that's what I thought, I somehow scored a 600 (out of 800) which is still hard to believe! And that was all without a calculator! I was just clicking away randomly on so many questions because I had NO time to solve the problems. I guess miracles do happen sometimes. Anyway, so what have I been upto post graduation? Well not job hunting if that's what you're thinking. I never bothered looking for a job because I'm taking this year off to prepare for graduate school so I want to focus on my application process which includes doing things that make me a better candidate for graduate school admission. Now that means I need health care experience and lots of it! And in order for me to get good meaningful health care experience (at least for PA school standards) I need at least some kind of certification such as CNA or EMT or phlebotomy tech or whatever...which would mean me going back and taking another class and whatnot. CNA - I have no interest in, EMT would be cool but I don't want to take up something new just for a few months. But of course if all else fails and I don't get into grad school then I'll have to do something like that. But I'm hoping that graduating magna cum laude will count for something and they won't hold it against me for not having years of experience. Of course if they count my 3 and 1/2 years of experience as a pharmacy tech then that would be fantastic. And speaking of which, I've started working there full time because I love that job and it pays well and I have flexible hours, i only work mondays thru thursdays. So fridays I get to shadow a physician and weekends i get to volunteer at the hospital. So besides graduate school plans nothing much has been happening in my life. The whole application process itself is so long. My only worry at this point is that my application might be a little late. My ex-classmates applied in like july. My deadlines aren't until november and december but the colleges recommend applying way early. How much earlier do they want? I'm applying for next fall!! I guess applying one year early isn't enough. Whatever, i would just like to get in somewhere that's all! ANYWHERE!!! Ok I think I should go to bed now, gotta work tomorrow! I hope i can write another update soon and not wait another six months! Current mood:  uncomfortable.Current music: Food Network!. 80 days seems so darn far away but I figured this is the only thing that will keep me sane this semester...knowing that this is it! No more evil elmhurst college professors after 80 days! You'd think having only 2 upper-level classes and 2 kind of easy classes is a pretty good deal but noooo! friggin microbiology class is 10 hours a week! I find that just a little crazy. But let me save the bitching for the last...the good news is that my friend Kerry is finally married! It seems like yesterday we were counting days and it was like 204 days away and now she's gone! The wedding was fun, she was surprisingly relaxed the day of. But the day before she was a total nut case. We weren't even allowed to talk in the car when went to run errands and stuff with her. Oh but the day of the wedding there was a little incident, all the groomsmen were acting like a bunch of 5 year olds even during the ceremony. Kerry finally flipped out at one of them in the limo because he was being so annoying. It was so embarrassing, when we got to the reception that guy and the groom got into a huge argument and the guy came crying to Kerry and apologized. oh the drama! but the rest of the night was pretty good. none of us bridesmaids fell or anything! and everyone looked so pretty in their dresses and stuff. My hair was a little weird just because I am not used to it, it was all in curls and it was half up and half down, everyone else liked it, i just thought i looked like an Italian girl. Kerry's underage brother got wasted! It was the funniest thing ever! It was ridiculous though because I was asked for my ID but the 19 year old was not! Second time i get carded at weddings! Anyway, i am so glad the wedding is over! the bridezilla was stressing us all out!! I should go take a shower and then start studying for my micro lab exam tomorrow. We have to turn in our proposals for our lab project tomorrow too. Why does the professor always make us submit things on the day of an exam? And let me tell you, her exams are ridiculous too I am surprised I even passed the last time. I can't wait till this class is over! And I really think working with all that bacteria every day is making me sick! I have had this cough for a month and I blame it on the strep and staph bacteria that we get to play around with every day. and to end on a positive note, 2 weeks until spring break! hell yeah!! Now if I can just make it through these awful 2 weeks! Current mood:  stressed.
So my wonderful school offers a January class, its only 4 weeks long and this time they offered a biology upper level class that counts towards your bio major so of course everyone takes this class so you can finish a 16 week long class in just 4 weeks. Downside? The class is Plant Anatomy. Boring, I know. But it gets worse, the class is every tuesday, wednesday & thursday from 9am to 3pm. Yes, that is SIX full hours of learning about plants!!!! And then, every friday I have to take a test. So I have a test tomorrow, even though the class started tuesday. This stuff isn't so difficult, but I have absolutely no interest in plants. I got such a bad headache after lab today, but what can you expect after 3 hours of staring at a microscope? At one point, I really felt like I was going to throw up. Sigh, why couldn't they have offered human anatomy! Anyway, so that's that. This month is going to be truly awful. I wish I didn't take this class but it was either this or a really bad spring semester with three bio upper levels. My break was so damn short, it was barely 2 weeks long. But I did make a ton of money from working so that's good. I should get to posting pictures on the yahoo thing. I have so many pictures that I need to get up...well someday when I'm not thinking about plants all day long! Well I am going to drink some tea and study! Current mood:  annoyed.
I can't even remember the last time I updated! I've been working like every single day and its so incredibly busy. But for some reason I don't get stressed out at work anymore. I don't even care if the customer is yelling at me anymore. And I think i now why. I think when I'm in school I'm kinda stressed out about school work and stuff so I don't handle bitchy customers very well. But now that my life is free of worries for a couple of weeks I seem to be very nice towards people even when they want to reach over the counter and strangle me so I just give them their damn pills! Anyway, I finally got a new cellphone as my much belated b'day present, i guess its my christmas present now. Its a slider phone and its super cool. It has a music player too. the ring tones that it came with are such crap though. and when i transferred my old phones' ring tones onto the new one, it still sounds like crap! oh well... in other news, my entire family has gone to canada for christmas except me. isn't that sad? one of my cousins who lives in canada is having her baby shower tomorrow because that was the only day everybody could agree on, so everyone's gonna be there for christmas too. the reason i couldn't go was because my damn passport never came! i applied seven weeks ago and nothing! i kept calling those people and all they could say was, "you could go with your citizenship certificate" hmm...yes i could, if you didn't ask me to send that in with my passport application, fools! So my dad decided to stay with me because he didn't want me to be all alone on christmas and stuff. So I decided to go see a movie with him today, and not just any movie, we saw Casino Royale. The only reason I saw that was because my dad loves James Bond movies and I wanted to do something nice for him since he was stuck with me here. BUT! I friggin loved that movie!! I know, shocking, I would have never guessed that I would like a James Bond movie. But who wouldn't? Daniel Craig (or whoever played the Bond character) was insanely hot! yummm! hah! Then later, I went to the mall with a friend of mine that I work with. The mall was packed with people, we only went because I had to return a few things and she had to buy some stuff. Well I think I'm gonna go to bed or something. I have to work tomorrow too, but hopefully it won't be too bad. Everybody's bringing food so we shall all eat like pigs. Current mood:  cold.
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