Much has happened!  I finished school.  Pinning was Dec. 13th, 2008.  Mom pinned me, which was nice.  They called each of us individually and we walked across the stage.  The pins were on a red ribbon that had velcro on it, so there was no awkwardness with pins.  They messed up my little blurb... I wanted them to say that mom's a nurse, and they also added "Helene hails from Swampscott" which sounds stupid.  We got some nice pictures, and the ones from the photographer came out good.  I forgot to take a picture with Tryg!  There was so much going on and a lot of people in the lobby and Tryg was taking all the pictures... I was disappointed about that.  I was thinking for a while that I could wear the same clothes and go back and take pictures but we never did and now it's too late cuz it's been too long.  

We came back to the apartment for a little lunch.  Mom brought chicken broccoli and ziti and salad and a cake.  There were some greens in the drawer in the fridge that we forgot about.  Don't know if she saw them.  She also made a nice little sign for me.  I had gone to get Michael from St A's, Erinn came up by train (turns out she'd had a rough night the night before), and John didn't come for some reason, but I'm gonna make him come to the one in May, which will be longer and hotter.  

I got a new pacemaker on March 9, 2009.  It was a pretty convenient time to do it.  Done with school, still on mom's insurance, and the generator needed to be changed.  Tryg stayed over and came in for the whole thing.  He was wonderful.  He went to see his mom at the daycare while I was in surgery, and he came back with flowers and a little balloon.  They told me to be there at 10am but we didn't go in to the cath lab (which is where they do the pacemakers now, in 6 South) until after noon.  Apparently they were busy.  It was a Monday.  They didn't change the leads; they said they tested them and they were fine.  But the doc said he had to beat me up a little to get the old one out, which explains why I was sore for so long and why my shoulder still isn't 100%.  He also said I bled a lot.  The scar was scary for  a while - a little blood came out and congealed under the Dermabond.  I didn't have to cover it up or anything in the shower.  Very convenient.  They prescribed percocet, which was nice.  Did make me a little nauseous the first time though.  I got to go home that night.  We got home around 8.  It hurt a lot to breathe for a little bit and I was really happy when I finally took in a big breath.  

NCLEX - It took a while for all the stuff to come together for me to be able to take the NCLEX, and then I didn't do it right away anyway because of the surgery and I didn't feel like it.  I took it Tuesday, March 24.  I studied a good amount for it, but I could have done more.  I put in maybe a good 6 days worth of quality studying at the end I think.  I did a lot of questions and also read some outlines of things.  

That morning I had an interview for a position in the Union ER, which I didn't get, which sucks, especially because it added a lot to my stress level that day, but that's ok.  When I got home from that I quickly got ready and had some spaghetti with leftover yummy mom's sauce from the night before.  Mom came in with me, so she drove to Wonderland.  We got into Boston and found the place a little after 1pm, and my test wasn't until 2:30, so we were pretty early.  We walked around for a bit.  I wanted to listen to the NCLEX review that I downloaded and got kind of annoyed because mom would point things out and we had to decide where to go.  She went to go shopping after a bit (and after we finally ended up back at the building and I said I wanted to be alone) and I walked around for a little more.  When I went inside they had me read and sign a thing, they took my picture and had a digital fingerprint thing when I went in and came out.  It took me just over 90 questions.  I was so scared after I passed 75.  I didn't get any of the alternate format questions; all multiple choice.  And a bunch of them were prioritizing, like "which patient would you see first?"  I had 3 questions about diflucan and some other stupid drugs.  Toradol.  And even one about MAOIs and tyramine that I got right (I'm pretty sure, because the answer had beer in it).  

So I had to wait 2 days and even then pay $8 to get my results.  I had gone to the gynecologist that day and was going to Amherst but I stopped at home to check and because I forgot my toothbrush.  Dad was here so I turned on my laptop in the kitchen and found out I passed!  I jumped up and down and dad did a little jump too and we hugged and jumped for joy.  So then I called Grampy, and I called mom because she was down at Foxwoods, which is actually where she is right now too.

So I passed about a month ago and I still don't have a job.  It's because of all the goddamn people who said "nursing major?  You'll have a job right out of school!"  Oh how I hate them.  They jinxed me.

Yesterday was our 3 year anniversary!  It was a perfect Saturday; it even got a little too hot.  I started the day off at home and drove to Cambridge to get Tryg because he had gone to some magical release the night before.  We drove back to Amherst and spent some time together, then went to Extraveganja!  Perfect day for it.  Tryg and I both got new sunglasses.  We left a little while after 4:20 and stopped by Bernie's, who Tryg knows from playing Magic in town.  That was chill, but we didn't stay long.  Smoked some cherry stuff from a hookah.

For dinner we went to Chandler's.  The Yankee Candle Store was closed, which I was disappointed about, especially because I had a coupon.  Dinner was lovely, though.  I had duck and Tryg had rib eye steak.  The duck was really delicious.  We also got a wine sampler, a "flight," as they call it, of red and white wines.  That was lovely too.  The waitress gave us a little card with the wines on it for us to take notes.  We went home for dessert.  I made a funfetti cake and got Tryg a bunch of candy (and gave it to him in a Victoria's Secret bag, which was a tease).  

I planted some seeds that have grown into wonderful plants.  I plan on doing some gardening tomorrow.  We'll see how much I get done.  Depends on when I schedule time to work.

Tryg and I went to Nantucket a few weekends ago. Had a lovely time. We took the slow ferry cuz it's cheaper. Takes about 2 hours to get out there. We stayed with his cousins Reed, Grey, and Jasper and some of their friends. They're renting a place (one of the few apartments on the island) and are working there for the summer. They're all crazy... their place was trashed, and Jasper told us that when they moved in it was perfect. They party like animals.

We went to a party one night and I felt like I was on the O.C. You could just tell the kids were rich and snobby, and I felt like one of the oldest people there even though there were some older guys. Tryg played some beer pong and then wasn't feeling well. We went through quite a debaucle trying to get a cab home, and ended up hitching a ride with some kid in a BMW SUV. He pretty much said that he was only being nice to us cuz Tryg mentioned that his family had a house in Shimmow. This kid didn't like people taking over his island. When we got back to the apartment Tryg had to climb up to the balcony on the 2nd floor to get in. He fell backward once... I was so scared, but he was pretty drunk and I kinda broke his fall. We slept in the tent while we were there.

We also spent a day at the beach. It was kinda hazy, but we had a good time, even though Tryg was rather hung over. We all played Wizard's Staff. I only made it to 5 or 6 beers, but Reed and Grey had like 12. Tryg and I lost the white frisbee. The ocean stole it. But we did get to sneak away for some sex on the beach.

Tryg showed me all of downtown. We walked around all the docks and he pointed out lots of landmarks. We stopped in at a fudge shop where his family's been going for years. The owner, Aunt Leah, remembered him. He also bought me a little beagle! We went out for lunch and I got to have some chowdah.

Tryg sent me an e-mail that he also sent to his whole family, and it included the string of e-mails about the sale of their house on Nantucket and when we'll be able to go there. And Kari wrote everyone back and must've his reply to all, so now I'm in on the Larsen family e-mails! She said that they reserved a spot for their car on the ferry already and they know the dates they're going. I have to figure out things with school... I have no idea what my schedule's like...

I'm just getting over a little cold. It only lasted like 2 days, but I had a stuffy nose and a cough. Tryg got me sick, and the kids at the daycare got him sick. I've been working kind of a lot. My car's been in and out of the shop because of the goddamn engine light.

I'm reading Skinny Bitch. It's very enlightening. I think I'll try a vegan diet... but not right now. I'm gonna try to stop smoking in August. We're going to Newport with Tryg's family August 2-9 and I'm going to try really hard not to smoke there, then after that I'll have to keep it up. I need to get organized and actually get some stuff done this summer, so I just have to do it. Need to exercise more too. I'm afraid that if I stop smoking I'll just turn to drinking, which I've kind of already done because sometimes I just drink wine by myself at home when I can't smoke. I don't like to be sober.

I need to be strong.

Hey, look! It's another attempt at blogging! I was thinking of starting up my journal again and actually made an entry not too long ago, but since I haven't made one since, I guess the journaling didn't catch on. Plus blogging saves paper.

So let's just jump right into things, shall we?

I worked on West Ground today. Not a bad day. Considerably better than yesterday, when I sat with my good Russian friend on W2 who starts off the day just fine and by the end is trying to kick me in the face.

Last night Tryg and I went to Salem Willows. We had such a great time! And as Tryg pointed out, we spent like $25, which is about how much it costs to go to the movies and get candy, and we were entertained for the whole night! We played lots of games. He beat me at most of them. I beat him in skee ball a few times, and once I came in 1st at the horse race. I had lots of old receipts for tickets, which they let me use (thankfully, because I would've gotten bitchy about it if they hadn't and I didn't feel like getting bitchy). I got a red Red Sox bottle opener key chain, which cost 700 tickets (!), Tryg got some dice, and I also got a ring pop, which the girl was nice enough to give me 2 tickets for since I was short. They have a cool sophisticated new scanner system there.

We got Chinese for dinner. We each got our own combination plate. I barely made a dent in mine. It was so much food. They were only $4-something. Bothered my stomach though. We got ice cream at the end of the night (I got coffee oreo and he got a delicious coconut chip) and we watched the sunset. The pink sky was reflecting on the water. I think Tryg took a picture on his phone. Then we walked out on a sand bar that went out pretty far. He was standing behind me and had his arms wrapped around me for a while at the point and we had a moment. It was nice. Salem Willows is kinda run-down, but it's still a great spot for a date.

I was cleaning my room before, which is still a disaster and now I'm just turning Erinn's room into my storage room (at least until the yard sale, which hopefully will happen at some point). I got distracted by the old journal and then the gosh darn computer, so I should probably get back to doing stuff before Dad and I have to figure out dinner.

Alrighty. So now I've had a good long week to think this over, and I think it's a good idea to start the blog up again. I'm not too keen on lots of random people being able to read various and intimate details of my life, but at the same time I feel that I'd be robbing the world of precious literature if I didn't keep it public. Consider yourselves lucky. I've decided to blog again mostly because I've referenced my blog periodically to check on dates and events, and sometimes I just read it when I'm bored. It seems like a good way to keep track of things and what not. I tried keeping a journal this summer, and it was nice cuz nobody else read it and I could include little drawings and jot stuff down at random, but I mostly wrote in it at work and it would take up a lot of time (because I usually had a lot of time on my hands) and then when I got back to school I didn't keep up with it. It can be a little annoying though... having to type out everything that's happened in the past few days, and sometimes I just don't feel like doing it. But I shall try to be good about it and stay on top of it.

So now I have to recap everything that's happened in that past seven months... but I'll be brief and I'll probably forget most of it. I worked for Mass Health this summer. Just had to do computer stuff and office work. It wasn't so bad... the people were really cool and the work was easy, got to read a lot and write in my journal and use the internet. I still hate commuting though. But my building was right near Boston Commons so I would walk there for lunch, or just walk around the city on my break. Fall semester went pretty well. Worked really hard again and it paid off. Got a 3.833 because I got a B+ in Biochem and an A- in Community Health. Did the Boltwood Project, which was cool and got me a 2 credit A. Plus Tom's the supervisor of my group. And I took Nursing210, Abnormal Psychology, and Chemistry. Got A's in all of those. Had to do lots of studying, especially for Biochem, but I kept things under control. And like Spring semester last year, I partied just about every night. The crew and I had some pretty crazy times. Don't know what I'd do without the crew.

I've finally turned 21!!! The crew made me two special cakes, and I got to buy booze. I got my new license and took a new picture... I didn't smile because the lady was looking at me as she took it and I felt weird smiling at nothing, so I look really mad in the picture. It's lovely being able to buy alcohol for myself and to order drinks at places. John and his girlfriend Melissa took me on a pub run a few weeks ago. That was pretty awesome. One of his friends organizes this whole thing, and a bus takes them from bar to bar. Got very drunk, came home and Erinn took pictures of me... I fell on her floor.

Christmas was good this year too. Got lots of clothes and DVDs and stuff. Rummy gave me one of her old snowboards for my birthday (wicked awesome present) and Santa bought me bindings and boots for Christmas. Still haven't gotten to go boarding yet though... the weather's been funky. I was disappointed because I asked for a digital piano and that was really all I wanted, and I didn't get one... so I bought a new one on ebay with the money I got for Christmas and some of my own money. BUT... then the parents gave me a check for lots of money, cuz they said they had looked for a piano for me but couldn't find the kind I wanted and hadn't thought to look online, so that worked out pretty well. And my piano is amazing and I get to play all the time.

I got contacts last week. They're awesome. I can see everything again! I'm getting better at putting them in and taking them out (sort of... still makes me cry) and they don't bother me at all. It was getting so that I had to wear my glasses almost all the time, and I didn't like it. Problem solved.

Time for bed. Have to get up early for church, and I'm going with mom to drive Erinn back to school. I can't wait to go back to school myself, but I don't get to go back until the 29th. I haven't had a job all winter and have just been sitting at home. Gets old fast. I don't want Erinn to leave me though.

Long live the blog!

*Me

I'm thinking of starting the blog up again. I think I'll think more on it though.

*Me

I'm thinking of discontinuing the blog. I think I'll think more on it though.

*Me

I GOT A 4.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Checked my grades the other day... rubbed my eyes... re-loaded the website... checked them again. Doesn't seem to be any mistake. I got an A in every single one of my classes. This has never happened to me before. Even in high school I never got high honors... only honors (sometimes). Turns out I'm not a complete idiot after all. Who knew? I printed out the grade sheet and showed it to the parents individually. Dad said he was impressed, then asked what was for dinner. Mom said she was very proud of me, gave me a little hug and sent me on my way. They weren't quite as excited as I would've liked. I was expecting confetti and a small parade at the very least. Especially considering that I worked my ass of this semester. Erinn was extremely impressed though, which is good enough for me. And I'm proud of myself of course. This means that I made the Dean's List. Mom promised a while ago that if I made Dean's List the parents would at least help me buy a car... but now that I've made Dean's List, she's completely forgotten ever having said that. Obviously.

The strange thing is that I partied more this semester than I ever have, did more clubs and activities, had a job, went to the gym almost every day, and did far better in school. This just proves that you can get completely wasted every night and still get a 4.0. It's all about time management, people. And having the will power to get out of bed in the morning. And learning to cope with having a hangover every morning. Next semester: even more partying, and world domination. And just for the record, I only missed two classes the entire semester. The third to last day of classes I overslept (apparently partied a bit too hard the night before, if you can believe that) and woke up at 10:30. Missed Physiology and History. But aside from that, perfect attendance. And I plan to do it again the Fall.

Rummy should be here any minute. She's coming to stay at my house for like two weeks!!! Her family's all moved down to Atlanta and as of tomorrow their house here is no longer theirs, so she's staying here for a while then driving down. She was supposed to be here quite some time ago and I'm not entirely sure where she is... but I'm sure she'll be here soon. And I can't wait! We're gonna have so much fun. It'll be just like school except we won't have any work to do. Excellent.

Speaking of work, I called the woman at the temp agency today and she said she should be able to find me some work this week. This is both good and bad. Good cuz I'll have something to do and I'll be making money, bad cuz I'll have to do stuff and get myself out of bed in the morning.

Erinn's prom is tomorrow. She just went out with mom to buy shoes... she's got shoes, but apparently they're not very comfy and she wants to see if she can find better ones. And graduation's on Sunday. We had to clean the entire house today in preparation. But now my room is spotless. I was actually very productive today. Even though I did get up until 1 in the afternoon. That wasn't my fault though... Michael woke me up at 7:30 to drive him to school, then I had to drive John to the train so he could go to work, then when I got home Erinn needed a ride... so I got back at 9 and decided there was nothing to do. Went back to bed. Slept for a very long time. Sleep is good.

I've noticed lately that mom keeps asking me if I feel alright... I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting over a small cold or if it's because the doctor said I need to have surgery again soon. I do hope it's the former, because if it's not then this is gonna carry on for quite some time. It's like she thinks my pacemaker's gonna explode at any second. Admittedly, that'd suck, but I don't think it's something we need to worry ourselves about.

Rummy just called! She's coming soon!!!

Hung out last night with Maura, Kate, Jason, Jess, and Brian. Discovered that there really is very little, if anything at all, to do in this town. We played frisbee, after finally obtaining a frisbee, on the Town Hall lawn, which was very wet indeed. And yesterday afternoon went on a lunch date with KARA, which was delectable.

Saw on the news tonight that Deep Throat has identified himself. Some guy named W. Mark Felt. Personally I'm pretty impressed that they kept is a secret for all these years. It must've eaten away at him. People are expressing a range of opinions on the subject, as to whether he's a hero or scum. I don't see how one could see him as anything but a hero though. Or at least above scum.

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up." --G. K. Chesterton

*Me

I'm hooooooooooooome!!! The end of finals was ok... The History final went as well as could have been expected. I studied a ton for it, and it was hard, but you can't win 'em all. And I did fabulous on Nutrition because the exam was almost exactly the same as the practice test he gave us. I love when that happens. So I had Nutrition on Thursday and mother was coming to get me on Friday, so I had all of Thursday to enjoy being completely free of school obligations. So I hung out with Rummy and Tom and we did what we do best. We went out for dinner with Steffa at a place called Fire It Up, which is just like Fire and Ice. Tons of good food, and all you can eat, which was perfect for the state we were in. We rented The Lion King, and we made a huge pillow pit out of Tom's futon mattress, his mattress from his bed, and all the blankets and pillows we could find. I had already packed up all my stuff so I slept in the pillow pit. Awfully comfy.

Moving out was kind of a bitch. There are three elevators in the building but only one goes to my floor, so mother stood there with some of my stuff waiting for the elevator while I ran up and down the stairs with as much stuff as I could carry and brought it out to the car. Twenty minutes later the elevator arrives and there was a janitor on it so he used his special key to hold it for us so I got the rest of my stuff on there. We stopped at Foxwoods Casino on the way home so mom could get in some gambling. She's down there again today, as a matter of fact. I had to just walk around while she got to play, because, alas, I'm 6 months away from being 21. They don't even let you into the parts where they have the games. So I walked through all the stores and looked at all the over priced stuff, then I sat down in one of the lounges to read and I'd been sitting there for about 15 minutes when some lady walks up to me and asks if I'm 21. I told her no, and she said that I couldn't sit there because they only served alcohol in the lounge. So I had to go find a bench that wasn't near anything that required you to be 21, and waited for mom. We did get lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe though.

Home's been pretty boring so far, but I was counting on it being boring. After this semester, I need some quality do nothing time. I've gotten to hang out with the siblings a bunch. I bought a new frisbee (regulation weight and everything) and it's bright yellow. And it turns out that little brother Michael can actually throw and catch a frisbee, so we've been doing that a lot... Despite the weather, which has sucked since I've been home. It's rained every day. And it's 43 degrees out right now. God damn New England. I've caught up on sleep, too. Went from sleeping 3 or 4 hours a night at school to something like 10 hours a night. Somehow I still managed to get a cold, which reached its peak yesterday, but I'm feeling much better today. It seems my fabulous immune system took the day off.

Went to see the cardiologist in Boston yesterday. Mom insisted on coming, depsite her promises for the past three years that the next time I'll be able to go by myself. Technically I can refuse to let her come, my being over 18 and all, but it's easier just to let her have her way. Plus if she comes then she has to pay the co-payment. So anyway, things are fine for the time being... there's more surgery on the horizon though. But not for another year or so, because a) pacemakers are engineered for old people, so the generator only lasts like 7 years b) I've had the leads in for 10 years and they last, on average, 10 years and c) In two years I'm gonna be off the parents' insurance. So there you have it. They also told me that I have to actually do the EKGs over the phone, which I'm supposed to do about every month but haven't done in over 8 months...

A long day of relaxing awaits me, so I'm gonna go get started on that.

Summertime (except for the weather) and the livin' is easy.

*Me

We went to Jay's party... didn't end up wearing togas though. We found out that not many people were, and we were taking the bus there and it would've been a hassle having to go in togas... so we skipped that. Still had a great time though. I got plenty drunk, played quite a bit of beruit, and did my first keg stand. Advice for the day: if you want to stay anywhere near sober, do not under any circumstances do a keg stand. I'd post pictures, but they're a tad incriminating.

The Stats final was ok... I was calculating my grade, and figured out that without the extra credit I've acquired throughout the semester I had to get a 74 on the final to get an A, which I think I managed to do. The final was held in a huge gym with a few other classes. I walked in with Rummy and our professor asked whose class we were in and we said hers, and she asked with great surprise where we sat all semester. I told her on the left side toward the front, and she still looked as though she had never seen me, which is strange considering that I didn't miss a single lecture all semester. Apparently I'm not worth noticing.

Had my Physiology final this morning. Bright and early at 8 am. Although it wasn't all that bright... it's rather overcast today. Anyway, I kicked its ass. I studied forever for it, so I'd better have kicked its ass. I was out of there in 45 minutes, leaving me plenty of time today to study for my History final, which is tomorrow. I'm a little worried about that one, cuz there's TONS of information that we have to know. It's on the whole semester, which is a total of 27 lectures (we had discussions once a week in place of lecture) and for each lecture I took like 3 pages of notes. So studying for this is not gonna be fun at all. Gotta work tonight too... so I should probably get started.

"Don't ask for a light load, but rather ask for a strong back." --Unknown

*Me

DONE WITH CLASSES!!!!!!

It's finally over! I'm done! Had nutrition today, which seemed to go on and on forever... then a short break in which I should have been studying but didn't, then an in-class final for nursing. It was 75 multiple choice questions, and I was unsure on two of them. Feelin' pretty good about that. Got another final on Saturday (who the hell thought up the concept of Saturday finals??) in Stats, followed by some more next week.

After my nursing final I promptly went to the campus center to sell my textbook back. Got twenty bucks for it. They always have tables and stuff set up in there with vendors selling jewelry and clothes and what not, and I always stop by and look at the pretty stuff wishing I had money. Rummy and I walked through yesterday and looked at one of the jewelry tables, with a ton of stuff that I particularly liked. There was one necklace on a silver chain, with a small glass pendant with a little pink flower inside that I thought was wicked pretty. It kinda reminded me of the little glass paperweight in 1984. So with part of my twenty bucks I went and bought it. I was kinda intending to give it to Erinn for a graduation present, but I might have to reconsider that.

We're might be going to a toga party at Jay's tonight... but I'm not really sure what's going on with that. And we have to figure out how to put on a toga. It's more difficult than it looks. Even more difficult to get it to stay on. You don't want those things falling off. Also Jay said there was some sort of surprise involving water, so no white togas.

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." --Yogi Berra

*Me