Vampires aren't the only thing that suck out your blood

Something else happened at the hospital Saturday besides my people watching. I had my fill of crazy clothes and hair, so I mosied on down to the 2nd floor where all the excitement was happening. And I think you know me well enough to know that by excitement I mean - food. To be honest though, I wasn't searching for food. I was searching for some caffeine. I had the beginnings of a headache and wanted to head it off at the pass.

When I got downstairs I was accosted by an older lady wearing a Nascar racing outfit. (It turned out there was a Red Cross Blood Drive going on and you could enter to win 10 laps around the track if you donated.) And although the lady came on a bit too strong, I was excited. I've always wanted to donate blood but never had. So, I got in line and read a little booklet they require you to read.

Finally, they called my name and I was taken into this little booth where they took my temp, pricked my finger and then I answered some questions on the computer about my sexual habits in the year 1978 when I was 4. Finally, it was time and I was a little nervous. I've heard some people say it's no big deal and others who say it was the worst ever. I laid back and the nurse got started. I was relieved when the needle was in and it didn't really hurt at all.

I'm not gonna lie. At this point I was loving myself. I felt great as I squeezed my little red ball. The nurse came over every few minutes and told me what a great job I was doing. At one point she said my bag was 90% full and I was excited because it would be over soon. And then I noticed that people who came in after me had already finished. Hmmm. Then the nurse came back over and said I was still at 90%. Another hmmm. And then she started digging that big fat needle all up in my arm because apparently it had come loose from my vein. The blood started flowing again and it felt like no time before the nurse said we were at 95%. And then... the flow stopped and there was more digging and I watched it.

This is the point where I became queasy and light-headed. She gave me a garbage bag and leaned me all the way back. She was kind enough to let me rest before she started more digging and then got another nurse over to dig. I was at 99%. I was so nauseous. They told me to start squeezing the ball again but when I tried, my hand was tingling and I couldn't move it. They had the blood pressure cuff so tight on the top of my arm that I had lost all feeling. They decided to stop.

She took the needle out and told me that I only got 99% of the bag full and they wouldn't be able to use it because it wasn't 100% full. WHAT???!!! I grabbed my free T-Shirt and got the heck out of there. Too bad Edward Cullen wasn't around...