Corn

There are a LOT of things that can go wrong with the heart. And I'm going to be tested on that tomorrow. I've already filled half a notebook (5 subject even) w/ notes in my pathofizz class.

So, I'm crammed into overheated, windowless rooms (4 out of 5 of my classes are in windowless classrooms - you do the math) with the same goup of 64 people. Sometimes we're broken up into smaller groups, but it's still the same people. And their quirks and annoying qualities are starting to show. I found myself being really grumpy about some of them ("man, she's annoying!" "shaddup already!" "Quit jabbing my finger w/ a needle!"). Maybe it's the lack of sleep. Maybe it's that I am dying (Right Now. As I Type This.) of several different and, possibly, unrelated heart ailments, but some folks in Nursing School are a little pesky. There's Hat Woman. She ALWAYS has something to say. And it's ALWAYS self-referential. There's Woman With Ill Boyfriend. She ALWAYS has something to say and it's ALWAYS about her boyfriend and his health ailments. There's Drunken Party Gal. Ok, she's not ACTUALLY drunk during class (um, I hope), but she ALWAYS has something to say and it's ALWAYS a question about drinking LOTS and LOTS of alcohol. Aside: she also went on and on, at one point, in a conversation I participated in with her, about the directions she ABSOLUTELY refuses to drive in. I only remember that she wont go south. (I don't really want to go south, either, but I will, at least, DRIVE south.) And then there's Odd Eating Habits Woman. She - IN PUBLIC - ate an apple and spit out the peel into a plastic baggy because -get this- she is worried about the pesticides on the skin. Um. Ick. Then there's Insensitive Guy (one of the rare fellas in the program) who always has some sort of comment that offends at least one person, but, more often, the whole class. Example: "I mean, come on, the guy's 41. He shouldn't be playing BASKETBALL! He should be creaking around in a golf cart." I've missed some people. But, here's the deal. I've started looking for good things about the people who annoy me the most. Hat Woman? She's really friendly and, even though it's the same hat every day, it suits her. She of Ill Boyfriend? She's got some nice tattoos. Drunken? She's got an infectious liveliness to her (there's a there there). And, heck, we've all gotta have boundaries. ApplePeel? She's lovely, smart and elegant. Maybe it's not all bad. But next time my lab partner pumps up the blood pressure cuff past 190 (I think my finger tips popped) and gives me high blood pressure ("uh, 120 over 90?") I think more than my fingers might pop!

That's a picture of popcorn the kids picked at The Harvest Festival this weekend. We'll pop it for Thanksgiving. It has to dry first. Ask me about my failed pretzels!