I Wasn't Prepared

*though only slightly related, cue the Eisley song*

March 11-13 my classmates and I headed to Anniston, Alabama to become FEMA trained. 

It was a brief "vacation" from my usual practicum and class routine.

I was not prepared. 

To be completely honest with y'all, I did not want to go. I was not shy about voicing my opinion either, everyone knew I didn't want to go. I did not want to spend 3 days in Anniston and all I could think of was "WHY do I have to go to the middle of nowhere and become trained in something I will never have to deal with?"

Y'all, I was not prepared.

Though there was a charter bus that drove from campus to the Center for Disaster Preparedness in Anniston, one of my good friends decided he would drive and I rode there with him. Pulling up to this place, I was slightly concerned. This former military base has high fences with angled, dagger tips. All I could think of was "I'm literally entering federal prison."

Not actually where I was, but this is the death fence.

Upon arrival, our identification was verified and we were directed to the lobby building. On the way to the lobby, we passed the lounge (aka BAR!). We then sat through orientation, checked into our dorm rooms and went to the cafeteria, where we ate some unexpectedly delicious food. 

To say we looked and felt out of place was a complete and utter understatement. The people we saw were mostly firefighters, police officers, military men and women, or public health workers about to leave for Ebola-ridden nations. 

While in the cafeteria, one of my friends text me describing some guy she saw at the lounge and told me to be on the lookout for a tall, black man with strong shoulders and a short haircut in a NYFD shirt.

Keeping that in mind and eager to see who in the world she was talking about, I joined a few friends for a quick trip to Target to get snacks and wine and as soon as we got back, I went to the lounge.

I was not prepared.

Beer, wine and men who look and act like they haven't seen the female gender in years.

To me, that means free drinks and interesting conversations.

And that's just what I got.

My friends and I conversed with several men from all over the country who made us laugh for hours out on the lounge's porch. Most of the time was spent with a group of police officers from New York. We played a not-so-sober Head's Up:

As the night continued and the lounge closed (at 9:30 mind you), everyone joined us on the porch.  The games got louder, we got a little less sober and a little more rowdy, and somehow I ended up standing on the picnic table with a girl friend of mine.

I also met the NYFD man my friend had text me about earlier and spent a good deal of time talking to him and his "brother" Mexico. 

I was having fun and I was not prepared for this.

On our first real day of work, I got up at 5:45 AM and met my classmates for breakfast. We then hopped on the bus to head to class and there, we learned some interesting things about mass casualty events, bombs and a a few other things I can't mention. At the end of class, we headed back to the dorms for dinner and that night, we again made our way back to the lounge.

Drinks on drinks from Mexico (thanks Mexico). 

I made the police officers from the night before make me "walk the line" if that tells you anything about my state of being that night. I played an ambulance arcade game, listened to terrible karaoke and took pictures I vaguely remember taking. 

The second day of real work came way too early, but it was a pretty awesome day of Hazmat suits, triaging patients, learning about mass casualty events and bombs.

At the end of the day we graduated from our training program and headed back home to Atlanta.

To this day, Mexico and I still text (which is funny because he is the "brother" of the guy my friend text me about) and I made some amazing last semester memories.

Y'all.

I was not prepared, and

I had a great time.

Share:

Farewell Party

For those who don't know, I get strep throat fairly often.

As in "3 or 4 times a year" often.

Well after having strep in October, November, January and February, 

I decided enough was enough and scheduled a tonsillectomy.

To say I was over being sick every month is an understatement.

Funniest little story:

In February, I was heading to work one night stressing out about when I would have time to get my tonsils out since I had so much due, and to do, in this final semester. I distinctly remember calling my mom and telling her, "I might just have to wait until the summer, because I don't have time to take off."

Well, when I got off work in the morning, my throat was on fire and since it was Saturday, my only option was to head to the ER. 

Strep throat.

I feel as though God literally laughed at me and said "oh you thought you would wait, huh?"

Needless to say, my surgery date is now less than 2 weeks away on April 6th.

To be honest, I'm not sure who (my mother or I) is more excited for the surgery because she's gotten more pictures of the back of my throat than I care to admit.

You would think I could stay healthy until then, but guess what I got this week.

Strep *insert side eye*

It's as if my tonsils know they're leaving and decided to throw a goodbye party, which BY THE WAY is so not cool.

Thankfully the pain is over and the real pain will began once I wake up after surgery. 

Fingers crossed that I'll never have strep again.

Share:

Dating - Mr. French

Dating in my generation is a joke. 

What is a date? 

date: a social or romantic appointment or engagement

What is an appointment?

appointment: an arrangement to meet someone at a particular time and place

What is an engagement?

engagement: an arrangement to do something or go somewhere at a fixed time

What is dating in the 21st century for millennials for 200 Alex?
I can tell you what it's not. It's not an agreement to meet up at a certain time. It's not a man coming to pick up a woman to go to an event. It's not romantic.

Its:

"Come chill."

"I'll come over after I get back from downtown tonight."

"Let's grab food sometime." (aka never, and if it happens you're paying for yourself)

"I wanna watch a movie." (aka drop what you're doing and come over)
At 2 AM when the bars are closing: "What're you doing after this? Wanna hang out?"

I know quite a few women who have gotten engaged this past year - including my sister - to men they've been in a relationship with for a long time. Sometimes I'll share dating woes of the 21st century with them and a few of the girls I know have told me "I don't think I'd know what to do or how to date if XYZ and I broke up."

I'm not even surprised they said that.

Even though I live in a college town, full of college-aged men (and women) who choose to participate in the random hook-up culture that is so prevalent now, I don't want to do that. 

I don't want a random hook-up. 

I want a relationship.  

Shoot, I want a date.

And real dates are hard to have when many other woman around me are willing to settle for "dates" of cuddling on the couch and watching Netflix or last minute Zaxby's instead of being asked out to dinner at 8pm next Friday at that fancy restaurant you've always wanted to try...  and as someone who isn't willing to settle anymore - no matter what town I live in - it's very frustrating.

So with all of that said, I've begun dating. 

Legitimate dating. 

As in: pick me up, take me out, drop me back off at home.

Each date - no matter how bad it may go - will be documented here for all of your viewing pleasure.

My Date with Mr. French

Mr. French has been actively pursuing me since I met him.

We met back in November as I was walking up to my apartment after a long day at clinical. Since I was still dressed in my scrubs, he made a comment about having a doctor in the building and laughed.

Hello accent.

Exhausted and not in the mood for banter, I corrected him and kept it moving. Eventually he got me to stop walking, we introduced ourselves, exchanged a few words and I gave him my number.

Two minutes later "Hey, it's Mr. French."

For the next couple weeks, he would text me late at night to just ask questions and get to know me, but I wasn't interested... With finals and clinical going on, I wanted to stay focused on school and to be honest, if you text me after 10PM and you're not my best friend, I probably won't answer you (unless it's an emergency).

At one point he asked me why I wasn't dating anybody and I explained that I was crazy though I wasn't opposed to dating, I wanted to focus on finishing school and building my relationship with God.

However, I decided to finally give him a chance this past Friday because if you never step outside of your comfort zone, you'll always get the same results.

He comes by my apartment around 6:45 and we walk to his car. He opens my door for me and we head to a nice restaurant downtown. No serious red flags at this point though he kept looking at me for too long while he was driving and was being a little speed racer-ish. We get to the restaurant and when we're asked if we want any wine, I say no because I have to go to work at 11 PM and he proceeds to order a bottle of wine... Aside from that, dinner went well for the most part until he again asked why I'm not dating anyone. I explain again why I've chosen not to date and he agrees and understands. Cool. We're on the same page.

Or so I thought...

We finally get in the car to go home and he walks me to the floor where our apartments are in opposite directions. I give him a hug, say the whole "Thanks for dinner, I had a good time and I really appreciated it. I'll see you later" speech when I realize he has a death grip around my waist.

I pull my head back and attempt to turn my body and walk away when he goes in FOR A KISS ON THE LIPS. I turn my head so that he'll get my cheek if anything, like the European kiss, but ol' boy tries to attack my face with his mouth and all I can muster out is "Um uh no" *insert head wiggle*... I finally get free and look at him like WHERE IN THE WORLD and WTF? And WHEN did the signal that I wanted this come from!?
 First date dude. We aren't that friendly.

And then I ran off to go get ready for work without looking back.

Share: