Not vampire material

Okay, so today I had a big day. The other day the blood bank called looking for people to donate. I had just been preaching to the kids about helping our environment and other people, etc., so I thought I shouldn't be a hippocrit and I should just suck it up and do it. So I made the appt. for today at 9:30. I also had scheduled a conference with Logan's teacher today at 8:15 (her conference period is very early). So I had to get up early and get ready before I took Logan to school. It wasn't too bad, I got up at 6:30 and was able to get myself and Logan ready in time to drive him to school and then come home and get Ellie ready to go with us to the conference. We went then came home since I hadn't packed her lunch for school yet. I did that (really quick) then took her to school. I hadn't had a chance to eat yet, so I drove thru Mickey D's to get something to eat so I wouldn't be a weakling at the blood center. I ate while driving to the blood bank, went in and answered all their questions and went back to donate. They started hooking me up, taking my temp and blood pressure (102 over 52) and then the dreaded needle. I do ok with needles as long as I don't look at what they're doing. Things were going ok, I was feeling a little "tingly" but I was surviving. She was moving around the bag of blood and it brushed across my hand. I could feel the warmth from it and it totally freaked me out. I know theoretically blood is a bodily fluid and should be warm, like pee or spit, but I just never thought of it that way, blood seems like it would be cold for some reason and the fact that it was warm really threw me. It was all downhill from there. She mentioned that the blood was slowing down and she was going to "rotate" the needle. I told her I had had bad experiences with people moving needles in my arm. I remember feeling a little dizzy and tired. The next thing I knew someone was tapping my cheek and saying "Mindy, Mindy, wake up, Mindy." I had been dreaming (I'm not sure what about now) and it sounded like the person speaking to me was in the other room, not the strange lady I was looking at. Where was I? Who is this person? What's happening? I had no idea for a little while. It was a very strange sensation. They could have told me I was out for an hour and I wouldn't have known the difference. They gave me a cold cloth around my neck and some gatorade and I started to feel a little better. I sat in the chair for probably a good 30 minutes before they and I felt like I could get up. She kept taking my pulse and blood pressure since it's supposed to return to what it was before in order to leave. Mine didn't get above 92 over 50, but they decided that was close enough. I still felt pretty weak and tired and my stomach was a little upset and I stayed that way for pretty much the rest of the day. There is a reason I didn't want to go into nursing like my Mom wanted me to. I obviously don't do well in these situations. I almost passed out a few times before when people were messing around with needles in my veins. I thought it was just with my left arm, which doesn't have very good veins, but I guess not since today they were using my right one. It had been about 10 years since I donated blood, I guess this had dulled my memory. If I ever mention to any of you that I'm thinking of donating blood, please stop me. I think from now on I'm going to stick to things like recycling, picking up trash or raising money for charity as my contribution to the world!!