It's been long since I've blogged on here!  I just want to jot my thoughts down since it's been a relatively good day today.  It was very busy at work as usual, but I'm learning not to stress out and take things slowly.  It's so hard though where there's multiple things going on and nurses are calling but I realized that I can only do one (or two things) at a time and can't rush through things.  Changing my mindset has helped a lot but it's still stressful at the end of the day when I realize that I can't leave on time or if I haven't done a thorough job as much as I'd like to.

Anyways, I realized that I really like talking to (some of the) patients.  I never got the chance to do that when I worked in the neonatal ICU before!  Usually if I need to talk to the patients, it's either to reconcile home medications or counsel them on coumadin - so the conversations are not too long.  I usually go in and out, but some of them will ask questions about me like where I'm from, where did I go to pharmacy school, or if they see my ring, they'll ask if I'm married or getting married.  Most of the patients are older so I think when I go in and talk to them, they just enjoy having a conversation since they are alone in the room and I'm sure gets bored.  I love talking to them, but usually I'll be looking at my watch and wondering how many orders will be in my queue to do or how I'll have to stay late if I stay too long to talk!  So this sweet old lady and I were talking and I told her how I'm getting married in June.  She was so truly happy for me and it was just the nicest feeling talking to her.  It turns out that she is from the DFW area so we ended up talking about Texas, marriage (she's been married for 48 years), family, Hawaii, her children (one is getting gallbladder surgery), etc.  And there's another patient who I just talked to again today (she was just admitted to surgical floor 2 weeks ago?) and she's readmitted to the hospital again.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing her some more.  I actually remember her and her whole family from when I worked at Publix as a pharmacy tech (like 6 years ago??).  It's a small world. 

For the longest time, I don't think I realized that I'm actually going to be going to Hawaii for honeymoon.  Not until I was talking to a nurse who's been a long time ago and she was telling me how much fun she had at the luaus, etc. Now I'm very excited about it!  I guess it just seemed so far away when we booked the tickets for the hotel and airfare but now it's only 3 months away!!  I'm looking forward to it very much - but just wondering if I should buy a new camera for the trip? Haha...I have 2 cameras already, but I'm sure I'll be taking tons of pictures at the beautiful beaches!!  I need to start researching more about Hawaii!

I can't believe it's only been a month since we closed on the house!  The past two weeks, we got a lot of work done on the house...but still a lot more work to do!  But I think it will come together soon after the carpet is replaced so we can start furnishing and decorating the house.  I've never enjoyed going to Home Depot until now.  I really can't wait until we have some furniture (or at least a dining table and a set of sofa) so we can start inviting friends over for dinner.  I'd never thought that I'd own a house at this age...but I'm loving the responsibilites that come with it.  Can't wait 'til the springtime when I can do some gardening too!  

Yay, I have a day off from working the weekend.  The rest of the weekend was actually very nice! The total opposite of Friday! Anyways, I can definitely use today to book the wedding photography/videography and shop around for the house =)  I may even have time to upload some pics from HK onto Facebook or Flickr! hehe...

Here's my horoscope for today:

Your Horoscope for DECEMBER 17, 2007

A change is definitely indicated, CARMEN. The astral energies are shaking things up in your life. It could be that you are offered an opportunity to branch out in a new career direction, or it might be a change in the romantic sphere, but whatever it is, it's a change for the better. There might be some major adjustments to be made, but nonetheless, in the end you'll come out ahead. Enjoy your success and go for it.

"Change" is definitely the word for 2007 in my life!  As this year comes to an end very quickly, I will definitely remember this year!

Life has been so busy!  With a relatively new job where I'm still learning/adjusting, a recent trip to Hong Kong, new house, and wedding planning still going on, there's no "free time" anymore.  But Hong Kong was lots of fun.  It's been so long since I've been back and so much has changed! It's so crowded now and lots more new shopping malls!  The MTR is still expanding too.  I took a lot of pictures at the Aaron Kwok concert and just throughout the trip, but haven't had time to sort through all the pics and upload them or put them in an album yet. 

Work was extremely busy last night.  There's been a few days lately where it's so busy that I don't have time to eat lunch/dinner.  It is so stressful at work :(  But I know that there must be a reason why I'm here - whether it will make me a stronger person, a better pharmacist, or whatever else it may be.  I keep praying that things will get better; but as I type this, our pharmacy is already planning some changes so MAYBE it really will get better? 

Just saw this quote from The Daily Bread today:

Though you cannot see the outcome,
Trust the Lord—He knows what’s best;
Be assured He sees your trial,
And He’s with you in your test.  —Hess

I think it's about time for another entry here on Xanga!  Time has been flying by extremely fast!

Most of the time, I go to work at 7 am and I still go to bed past midnight.  I really need stop staying up so late but I just can't make myself go to bed early.  Recently, it seems like every other day, someone tells me that I look tired or sick!  I think I have aged about 10 years since I started this job.  It is so busy there and I tend to stress out too much.  I need to learn to be calm when there's 20 different things going on...haha.  On top of that, there's just so much I need to do after I get home.  I try to balance my time between seeing my family and John.  I think it'll be easier for me once I get married because then I'll focus on my new family; right now, I still feel like I need to stay home and be with my parents and grandma.  John and I have been looking at houses the past few weeks - I can't wait until we find our new home soon!  And something else I've been busy with is the wedding website.  I haven't made a website in years, so it was tough to start one from scratch but I'm very happy with it right now.  Just need to fill in some information here and there and I'll be done!

Believe it or not, today was the first time going to the mall since I've moved back!  Yup!  I pass by the mall every day to and from work, but I finally couldn't resist and dropped on the way home today.  I was disappointed that I didn't find anything that I liked though.  Hopefully I'll be able to buy lots of things in HK!

I'm looking forward to next weekend very much where I'll be back in Dallas with John for my friend's wedding!!  Both she and I got engaged at about the same time, so I can't believe her wedding is here already!  I know it's going to be a beautiful wedding!  Too bad that it's going to be an extremely short trip but I'm just glad that I'm able to go because it was supposed to be my first weekend working.  I can't wait to see my Dallas friends....I miss them soooo much!! 

Oh yea, I bought a new camera lens this week and I'm so surprised to find out that it's actually supposed to arrive tomorrow!  I can't wait to take some pics with it!  I need to practice with it so I can take pics at my friend's wedding and for my trip to HK!! =)

Happy early weekend everyone!!