Happy 4th of July!

I had a great day today. I haven't had such a great day in a long time. I don't know what it was. I kept thinking it might be my new multi-vitamin that says on the label "contains as much caffiene as a cup of coffee" when I dont' drink coffee. But, I think there is more to it. I started off my day by going to work. At work, I was told, "you're on Charlie side"... umm.. we closed Charlie side awhile ago, that meant there were a lot of patients. I sent one of my favorite patients back to the states, moved my other patients to Delta so we could close Charlie and picked up another patient who i later discharge, gained another patient from the air evac. Now, it's a holiday in the hospital so people aren't there!! I LOVE working holidays. I was walking around the hospital in unauthorized uniform allll day and I loved it. It was so easy to get my job done. Well, we have a few distinguised visitors come through. the first one... sorry, I don't know who he was but he was escorted by a full bird. The second visitor was Gary Sinise (apollo 13, forest gump...). He talked with some of our soldiers and took pictures with some staff. At this point, I was moving patients, working both sides of the unit, getting pain meds, pulling other medications, and I had NO CLUE who he was. Finally, I saw him and thought, "why do I know that guy??... huh, weird, whatever." Then I realized who it was and was just in time to dive into a group photo that will hopefully be put up on medshare soon. I had such a crazy day even the staff realized something was wacko with me. I was very animated and always running around.
Then, I went to Ramstein Air Base for the FIREWORKS!! I went with Julie, Michele, Inga, her husband, and her son. We ran into many people we knew and we snagged a perfect spot on the ground infront of the ramp. Gary Sinise and his band were putting on a concert so we got to listen to that before it got dark enough for fireworks at 10:30. The fireworks seemed a little far away and within a narrow scope of view but there were fireworks I'd never seen before and a good variety. I was with such a good group of friends that I wasn't disappointed at all. We walked allll the way back to the cars afterwards and I got home at midnight. It was suprisingly easy to get off base.
As of right now, I am being called off from work tomorrow because I have so many holidays owed to me. Unless the next 4 hours create complete chaos and they need me, I get tomorrow off to prepare for the arrival of my mom, Bob, Cameron, and Nick. I am also completely excited that I am getting an NSTP cadet. I was asked today to take over for someone and I can't wait to meet her. She's going to be here for 4 weeks. She'll be with me on all of my shifts and have the same days off as me. I can't wait to teach so much that I'm sure nursing school hasn't gotten to yet. I just remember that NSTP was the only thing that made me finish nursing school and I was so much more prepared for senior year that my teachers all were shocked I was the same person. I hope I can offer an amazing experience to her. Germany is absolutely a good place to get it too. It also means I get the pick of OEF/OIF for the next month!! And, she'll go from days to nights with me and get the experience of both. YAAAY!