Conception

Today in nursing school (I am currently in my OB rotation), we learned about how to estimate a pregnant woman's due date from the date of her LMP (last menstrual cycle). So the formula is to take the first day of your last menstrual cycle (when you first started bleeding... sorry, is that TMI?), add 7 days, and then subtract 3 months or add 9 months. This is called Nagele's rule and is less accurate for reasons such as irregular periods, conceiving while breastfeeding another child, after stopping oral contraceptives, etc. Doctors in clinics or the hospital will actually use a little wheel device with the same concept called a "birth wheel"...























We actually got to play around with a birth wheel today and out of curiosity, I discovered that I was actually conceived the day before my parent's wedding anniversary. hahaha. Certain birth wheels can also indicate the day of conception, which appears to be 14 days/2 weeks after one's LMP. So either my parents were actively trying to have a baby or I was the product of a some wedding anniversary "celebrating" :)

So in applying the formula, I was theoretically conceived on May 24th 1984 (my parent's wedding anniversary is May 25th). Therefore my mom's LMP must have been around May 10th, 1984. By adding 7 days and subtracting 3 months to this date, my birthday should be (and is) February 17, 1985!

Real Domestic Housewife

I have a house in Virginia with my husband, which I reside in when I am not in nursing school. During school days I live with my parents because my school's campus is in Maryland. I am currently in my VA house since spring break is in session. I've been enhancing and expanding my domestic skills ever since I got married. Today's agenda, laundry and dinner. I really should clean more often, but I hate "scrubbing" the counter tops and surfaces with a passion. I am always amazed at how often my house needs cleaning, especially when there is only two of us currently living in it, and occasionally we aren't both always home. I'm actually in Maryland for most of the year during the fall and spring semesters and my husband (who is in the Navy) goes out to sea a lot. Anyways, I don't know how housewives/families keep their house spotless. I think the secret is = cleaning services ;)

Well, since am I still a "poor nursing student" and therefore cannot hire someone to clean up after me, I am left to do it myself or hope my hubby will beat me to it. Actually, I don't mind cleaning, but I hate addressing the toilets and the stove which has a grill top. I wish I had an electric stove-top (easier) to clean, but my husband insisted on the grill/gas stove top.

Sorry for the tangent, back to day's agenda. For today's meal plan I decided to try my hand at homemade chili, corn bread, and potato wedges. I'm finally using the opportunity break in the crock pot and Kitchen Aid professional stand mixer. Everything turned out absolutely yummy! I made the chili with ground turkey, onions, garlic, kidney and pinto beans, green and red bell peppers, a jalapeno, tomato/basil pasta sauce, chili mix, cinnamon, oregano, basil, parsley, and thyme. All into the crock pot everything went after the ground turkey was browned and the beans prepped. The corn bread consisted on cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, melting butter, a can of creamed corn, and one egg. And finally, I sliced two red potatoes into large sticks and mixed them with extra-virgin olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. This was baked in the oven. Yummy yummy yummy! I'm delighted at how yummy everything turned out, but more happy that I have yet to induce any food poisoning *knock on wood*

And the finished product... Voila!

Foodie Adventures

I tried Burmese food today for the first time! Delish! My aunt and uncle treated me to dinner the Burma Road Restaurant (http://www.burmaroad.biz/index.aspx) for my birthday present. My favorite dishes were ginger salad and pickled tea leaf salad. I would go back there just for those two dishes! But we also ordered the coconut noodle soup, braised whole rockfish, and chicken with basil and chili stir fried. The latter was actually a Chinese dish, as they have some Chinese cuisine on the menu. The fish was okay, but I wasn't too keen on the sauce it was braised in. The coconut soup and chicken dish were also very good. It was definitely a large meal for three, so there was a lot to take home. For dessert we had this milk/jelly/ice cream concoction which reminded me of halo-halo (a filipino dessert). Overall, I was very happy to discover this new restaurant. It was a great dining experience, which reminded me very much of Thai food, but with better salads :)

Something to smile about on a cold, dreary day

In case you haven't gone as far as to read my profile, I must admit that I am a Twilight-fanatic. No, I do not stalk Robert Pattinson on the side and have "Team Cullen" t-shirts, but I have read/re-read the books on numerous occasions and brave the throngs of pre-pubescent girls to see the movies at the theater. Okay, I guess I am more of a "fan" than a "fanatic", and being thus, am beyond excited for the release of the Eclipse trailer!! I'm so happy that as the succession of books are turned into movies that the quality has improved. The first movie (Twilight) was abysmal... hippie music and bad special effects! I know they were on a budget, but come on! What was up with all the hippie/emo music? And the budget couldn't afford better make-up and contact lenses? Well, like I said the second movie (New Moon) was a lot better - they got a new director :) And Eclipse, being my favorite book out of the four, looks awesome! June 30, 2010 can't come any sooner!!!

Why god created earplugs

the good = the HOA is finally clearing the fallen branches from Snowmageddon 2010

the bad = using loud-a$$ tree shredder

the ugly = i'm trying to go back to sleep!!!!

Hello world!

So I guess I am getting my b-card "blog card" swiped! Here's my entrance into the blogging world. I'm actually not really a blogging virgin, as I used to have Livejournal account, which encompassed my college life. But here I am, a 25 year old about to graduate from nursing school, with way too many thoughts going through my mind. So I figured, "Why let them go to waste?" and as a result, here I am sharing my random thoughts and daily adventures with you!

So where do I begin? I am not usually a morning person, but my life in the health care field demands that you either live your life working in the early mornings or late at night. I was suppose to work this morning, but got canceled as I am only a PRN (as needed) position. I wasn't needed today nor would the "budget allow for it". Don't you just love our health care system... millions of dollars go towards insurance companies, pharmaceutical drugs, fancy computerized programs, expensive equipment, and yet everyone always complains of nursing and staff shortages because there's just not enough money to pay them. ugh. But I didn't want to talk about my gripes on the health care system. Sorry for the tangent... we can save that for another post.

Were was I? Oh! No work. No school (I'm on spring break). Yet, here I am unable to sleep in. My thought this morning was actually how annoyed I am becoming of people trying to sell their wares on Facebook. I have been tagged numerous times in the past few months with people trying to get my attend on things they are trying to sell. Now, it just so happens that these are people from my "motherland" the Philippines. I understand that in our current economical state, everyone is trying to make a buck and I guess good for them that they've found an outlet through FB, but really? How much money can you possibly make tagging others in the hopes that they buy your used clothes and/or jewelry? Please correct me if I am just totally out of the loop and this is a reputable business venture! In my opinion, however, it seems like these people are making others more annoyed rather than making any $$$. When I signed onto FB years ago (back when it was strictly a college network) I couldn't have imagined what it would become. Don't get me wrong, I was once an addict of Farmtown and I can be a serial FB stalker, but this whole tag-to-sell aspect is one of the more annoying innovations to come out of FB. As I posted on my profile "new pet peeve: people who tag others trying to sell stuff. I didn't sign onto FB to go online shopping"... there are websites designed specifically for this... ebay.com, etsy.com! Create an account with them, post your wares, and spread the word amongst your clients *cough* friends. Or make your own website like other reputable small business owners. There's nothing wrong with trying to make a buck, but when you inconvenience others (yes, it's an inconvenience to have to untag myself from all these posts) then it's a problem. I just hope it's another FB phase as people realize that no one is going to buy from them and/or they get tired to taking tons of pictures, posting tons of pictures, tagging tons of people with very little result.

Okay. That was my little vent. Time for breakfast I think. Something that I don't have as often as people say you should. Some oatmeal sounds quite delight at the moment, or I could just go back to sleep :)