Back to School Shopping

This coming fall, I will be going to an RN Refresher course. After having been out of nursing for the past 10 years, I'm getting my license back. Thankfully, this state requires you take a refresher course if you've been out of practice for over 3 years. I'm glad for this opportunity because frankly, I'm terrified to go back without some kind of refresher. Things just have changed, that's all. They don't still use leeches, do they?

I have to say though, I am nervous about going back to school. I'm guessing there are a lot of people in the same boat as I am. My sweet husband has no worries about that. He says that even though I'm older, I'm still smart. Bummer though, I think that this time through, I'll have to get reading glasses.

But along with the granny reading glasses, I get to buy all new nursing stuff. Over the past couple of days, my doorstep has been receiving cool new gear. One day, 3 of my textbooks arrived. Okay, that was a bummer. I had forgotten how heavy these bastards are. I figure I can work out just by carrying my books around. "How much do you press, Tess?" "Oh, I've worked my way up from RN Drug reference book to the full Med/Surg textbook." The next day I got 2 sets of scrubs. I got some that look a little more updated, but still in that lovely ceil blue. I had never *heard* of ceil blue before shopping for nursing clothes. Lastly, I got my stethoscope.

I was excited to get my stethoscope because my last one had been stolen when I last worked. My mom had bought me a lavender Littman Classic II for Christmas. I had a tag with my name on it and everything, but it walked. So I was shopping, and while I loathe most things pink, I did buy a pink stethoscope. See, 3M was donating $5 for each of these pink stethoscopes sold for breast cancer research, and the stethoscope costs the same as all the other colors, so why not? I ended up getting it engraved with "Tess Haddon, RN" just in case.

My son was very excited to see my stethoscope and had a suggestion on its use.

"Mom, before you go use that on people, can I go listen to a tree?"

A lot of what he says to me just leaves me bewildered. And I think it will be that way for the rest of our lives together.

"No, Mom, you can hear the sap going up the tree. For real."

"What does it sound like?" I asked.

"I can't exactly describe it..."

"Does it sound like sucking on a straw?" I made a slurping sound.

"No. Just go listen to one, Mom. We did it in school."

I rolled my eyes at him. Another crazy idea. But now, after having shut him down, I'm feeling like a jerk. Turns out that it is possible to hear sap go up a tree trunk during Spring. You're supposed to pick a thin barked tree and listen very quietly. You'll be able to hear the sap going up the trunk to the branches and leaves.

I suspect that I'll be listening to our trees with my Breast Cancer Awareness Littman Classic II S.E. Stethoscope this coming Spring. I'll have my son show me how.