Bloody Good Fun

So you may have noticed the lack of post yesterday- this was due to the fact that I was in class from 0800-2100, got home at 2130, spent an hour doing my homework, and then collapsed into an exhausted stupor.

Mental exertion, my friends: it burns a crap-ton of calories.

Plus also actual physical exertion!  One of the best parts of yesterday was getting to use some of my climbing gear in a Scenario:

Slings, cord, and a daisy chain!

...and the coup d'etat, my stick-clip! (everyone was fascinated by my stick-clip)

I think yesterday's Revelation of the Day was just how lucky I am that I'm at a point in my life where I can be doing this.  I have a job I can take time off from, the money to pay for the class (and to afford me taking that unpaid leave), no kids, a supportive spouse, and supportive friends who aren't bitching at me for not socializing.  I am way more focused and dedicated to Doing What Needs to Be Done than I was in college (which is not to paint this picture of me as an irresponsible student- I was definitely a goody-two-shoes-nerd, but I also simply didn't know myself as well as I do now.  And I often felt a lot more conflicted over my priorities, even if I did keep them straight.) (I think having a lifemate already in place takes a lot of the pressure off...)

Anyway.

I woke up this morning with a good 7.5 hours of sleep under my belt and it was not. enough.  Who got on I5 North this morning instead of I5 South?  Yeah, this girl.  ::sigh::  But I made it on time to class, so no harm, no foul.

I got to be a "patient" not once but twice today, and I got to wear makeup for one of the Scenarios:

Contusion Buddies*

I was to show signs and symptoms of a mild head injury, which included "vomiting" (and "choking" on it) when my rescuers reached me.  Our instructor had a cup of watery oatmeal we could use "if anyone wants to", and every single last one of us was like, "GIMME!", which she was not expecting.  I friggin' love my group.

The other Point of Interest today was the final Scenario, in which we were "rescuing" a patient with moderate-to-severe hypothermia.  There was incredible room for improvement within my group (yes yes, most decidedly including me), but the main thing it got me thinking about was how important it is to designate a leader and then bloody well stick to it.  I have a tendency to step into leadership positions, but age and experience has tempered me to the point where I can bite my tongue when someone else is in charge, and not try to take over- because that just makes it confusing and bad for the others who might trend more naturally towards following.  Unfortunately, there was a younger person in my group who has not reached that point in their personal development.  And I totally get the desire to step up and be The One In Charge, especially in a high-stakes situation (it's basically embedded in my DNA)- I empathize and sympathize and all that jazz- but for real, you have to let others lead sometimes, or people will get hurt.

::steps off soapbox::

Good thing we're going over Leadership and Teamwork tomorrow!



*I texted a very similar photo to Nathan because I thought he'd find it interesting, totally forgetting that he has no clue our Scenarios are so realistic.  His response was understandably panicked, until I reassured him it was just makeup (and laughed hysterically through my guilt)