I Like to Balance out my Good Grades with a Little Dumb-Assery, Just to be Fair

     You know, I make pretty good grades in school.  I always have.  I'm not claiming to be super smart or anything; I'm just really good at taking tests.  I know that some of y'all on my Facebook feed are probably getting sick of the "WooHoo! I made a 4.0 this semester" or "Guess who made a 100 on her first exam!" statuses, but school is what is relevant to me right now, so that's what I talk about most.  To be fair, though, I've decided that if I'm going to announce to the world that I made a 100 on my first Pharmacology test, I also have to announce what a dumbass I made myself out to be in Intro to Nursing last night.  Life is about balance, right?

     So last night after our first test, our teacher was going through her lecture about administering medications.  When she got to the point about injections, she split us into groups so we could all handle the needles, syringes, and "insulin" (which was really sterile water) in order to get a feel for drawing up medications.  Now, my mom got me some practice needles a while back, but honestly I was a little nervous to try them on my own, so I've never handled a needle before.  I've also heard scary stories of needle sticks from patients who have HIV, so of course I was a little apprehensive and aware of the importance of needle safety.  Yet, somehow last night when the teacher told us to draw up 2 mL of "insulin" my excitement clouded out everything else, and I jumped at the chance to claim a needle and get going.  The problem started when I couldn't get the cap off the darn thing.  I tried exerting minimal force, but the cap just wouldn't budge.  Feeling the eyes of the two other girls in my group boring into me as I struggled with the stupid thing, I finally decided to give a quick jerk to release the needle from its prison.  It was effective and overkill because the needle shot backwards out of the cap, and then forwards into the index finger of my left hand.  I just sat there, stunned for a sec on as the blood began for bubble up out of my finger.  Thinking I'd recover quickly, I stood up to grab my jacket with the intent of holding that over my wound to disguise it and stem the flow of blood.  As I stood, however, the teacher caught sight of me (and my now bleeding profusely hand) and came swiftly over.  Her look of horror just made my brain stall, so when she asked me if I wanted to go to the bathroom, I just stood there for a second wondering why she would want me to go pee at a time like this, but then it clicked, and I scurried off before any of my fellow classmates, besides the girls in my group, saw that my hand was now dripping blood onto the table.

     As I sat in the bathroom, watching the sink turn red from a tiny needle stick I tried to think of ways to recover from this clear display of incompetence.  Unfortunately, I got nothing.  Finally I stemmed the flow of blood, and I returned to class with my tail firmly tucked between my legs.  I decided to steer clear of the needles at first, but then I finally got up the courage to try again.  This time everything went smoothly, and I only had to endure one joke from my classmate about being careful where I pointed the thing after I had successfully drawn out my 2 mL.  I think it was warranted.  Luckily class let out soon after that because my finger had swollen to three times its normal size and was throbbing.  As I was packing up to leave, I offered to help my teacher pack away the needles and insulin, but she told my "No thanks" in what I'm hoping was just a normal voice, not a panicky, "Dear God don't let her near those things again" way.  My last attempt at redeeming myself involved a little humor as I told her, "Well I've been really worried about needle sticks in the hospital, so I just decided to get it out of the way in your class."  She gave me what I took as a look of pity, although it could have been a withering look of "I just wrote you down as the first to flunk out of this program".  O.o

     On a more serious note, though, through the whole thing I kept remembering this one phrase someone said about Nursing school.  They didn't remember the tests they made 100's on or the questions they got right.  They remembered the screw ups, the bad calls, the mistakes and they never made those again.  I don't think I'll ever be so careless with a needle again.

     You know I can't let you go without a recipe, so here you go:

Family Favorite Chicken Kabobs
from Allrecipes.com

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp gr. black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic
4 small onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
12 skewers

In an extra-large bowl mix oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper.  Reserve a small amount for later to brush over the kabobs.  Add in chicken, garlic, onions, bell peppers, and pineapple chunks.  Let marinade for at least 2 hours.

Drain marinade, and thread chicken, vegetable, and pineapple pieces onto the skewers.  Lightly oil the grill.  Cook 12-15 minutes on high heated grill until juices run clear.  Turning and brush with reserved marinade frequently.

Enjoy.  Now I'm off of here, because typing makes my finger hurt worse :-/