New Experiences

This last week was fairly uneventful. I'm still waiting to hear about my Visa. On Feb. 8th I'll have to cancel my plane ticket for the 11th if I still don't have a Visa. I now know that I have a mandatory orientation Feb 15th, but If I still can't make that I need to be there by the 23rd or I won't be able to enroll in the classes for my program. So I'm just trying to be patient. Nevertheless, I'm planning to be ready to leave a week from today just in case. I can't organize a place to stay until I get there, or at least solidly know when I will be there. Everything is still in the air!

This week was fun as I donated plasma for the first time ever! I've donated blood a lot and something about your blood going back in seemed gross and so I never wanted to try donating plasma. Some friends recommended I try it and that way I could help them earn some extra cash by referring me and I could earn some extra money by donating. I had to get up at 6 a.m. so I could eat a good meal and arrive at Talecris before they open. Finally at 7 a.m. they opened their doors and I was the only new donor there. First you have to read a booklet explaining the process and requirements to donate and what would not allow you to donate. Then you go into a screening where they test your blood pressure, pulse, blood protein levels and more that I can't remember. The screening is done each time and if you don't meet specific level requirements they might turn you away for the day or have you wait for a period of time. For example if your temperature is too high or too low (possibly due to hot or cold drinks consumed beforehand) they might just have you wait in the lobby for a time until your temperature gets in the normal range.  After that you do a medical exam and urine test with the doctor (only occurs the first time) and they ask you a bunch of questions to make sure you can donate. Some high risk behaviors that will not allow you to donate are prostitution, needles (like those used for drugs, tattoos, etc), and male to male sexual behaviors. Once you pass the medical exam you finally get to donate! They have multiple movie screens for you to watch a movie during the process (and in the lobby). The machine goes through cycles where your arm band tightens and you pump with your hand to help the blood flow and the plasma is separated from the blood, then the band loosens and blood is returned and the cycle starts over. For women you donate 690 ml which was about 4 cycles for me. When the blood goes back in it is a little bit cooler, but on the final return they include the room temperature anti-coagulant which makes me shiver like crazy as it goes back in. Finally you get a pin number to get your money out of an ATM type machine as you exit! It took me 3 hours and I earned $30! You can go every 3 days and twice in a 7 day period so I went again on Saturday which took me just over an hour to finish and I got $40! Matt went with me, but unfortunately because he uses an inhaler for his cat allergies they had to turn him away. He has to go 7 days without the inhaler to donate and with our cat that's not going to happen. Apparently donating can shorten your breath and it adds an extra risk, however a girl in the lobby left for a smoking break and she's allowed to donate - funny. Matt and I are super healthy, and he has fantastic veins and the doctor was really sad he had to turn Matt away. Naturally there are all kinds of people that go into these places and will try to lie their way through the medical, but the doctor's are quite talented at catching them in their lies. It's just sad that they have to turn away some good people too. 

Wednesday Matt and I had our next financial class which was way good. This week's lesson was about starting a zero-based budget for the month of February and to stick to it. I learned about what you do when you have an irregular income, which had been my excuse for not doing a budget for years. Also, this week's class talked about teaching your kids to save money. The age-appropriate strategies were really awesome! I'm not going to go into details, but it was a good class. Matt and I went home and made our first zero-based budget. It was hard, but we did it! Now the key is sticking to the budget! This might prove to be more difficult than planned because we didn't really know how to include Australia costs into it. Oh well. 

Yesterday was pretty awesome as we were able to go to Corvallis and see Laura Dexter's baby Liam be blessed. It was a great experience! I'm so grateful I am able to have such wonderful friends in my life, and be there for their special moments. Life is difficult, but there are so many new and wonderful experiences that the tough times are worth it.