Well, my life isn’t so much in two’s anymore…we’ve accomplished our nine night dinner theater with positive feedback from the crowd’s.  We survived, as far as I know, and are now walking zombies with real life ahead of us the next couple of days.  I have my nursing final tomorrow, that I have yet to really study for (yikes), and then final conferences, and then ~ HOLD YOUR BREATH ~ DRUM ROLL ~ I have a five day stint of being a hermit.  I kick it off with a visit to my doctor in STL then I’m finding me some fuzzy pj’s and some books (non nurse related) and going to hide out at a friend’s house for four days doing absolutely nothing.

We did a post-play cast party at Steak-n-Shake last night (for those w/o children) with some other friends/workers of the cast and crew…at midnight.  Kinda crazy I know, I’m getting to old for this.  But my peppermint shake was very tasty and it was great getting to relax and hang out with friends.  Then of course we had to hit Wal-Mart; if you go to PB you have to go to Wally-World ~ we have nothing else. :)

Things that went down while we were immersed in CAOH:

Albert Pujols left the Cardinals.  It was actually very humorous to see the reactions of all the ‘fans’ about this.  My take on the situation:  He’s getting older, who in their right mind would not lock in a ten year deal where they are making $25 mil MORE than they are now, have the guarantee to get paid regardless if he plays or not, and will more than likely be a DH getting paid that much.  Is the price crazy?  Yes.  Do I wish I could make that much a year doing something that I like with thousands of people cheering me on?  Yes.  I see it as a win for Pujols ~ he secured his future.  We’re still the Cardinals regardless of who is on the team…and we’ll be just as good/bad without him as we were with him.  Go CARDS!!!

I took two HESI exams (something like achievement test in grade school) and I passed them.  I have found that I will more than likely not be a first responder nurse; I have issues picking the ‘What I Will Do First’ option of the answers ~ that was a low point in my overall grading.  But other than that I will be a safe nurse, follow the rules, and have great patient care…according to the test.

Well…I’ve wasted enough time.  My dryer buzzer is telling me it’s time to get moving, my clock is telling me I’m going to be late for church, and my mind is mush and not sure what I’m typing anymore.  Hope everyone has a great week, I’m looking forward to mine ~ final and all!!

ERM

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving.  We’re getting together with my mom’s family, at my house, so I need to get a scrubbing, because it’s in dire need of some freshening up. :)   Should be a good time of kickin’ back, relaxing, and eating way to much food.  But what else are Holiday’s for?

I’ve been doing a ’30 Days of Thankfulness’ on Facebook, each day putting what I’m thankful for.  I started off on a roll, but one the basics were gone (family, church, job, car), I hate to say this but it’s getting hard to think of things to put down.  Yes I’m thankful, but a majority of the stuff is lumped into categories and sometimes I miss the simple basic things.  I still have half a month to do…things could get creative. :)

This past week has been beyond crazy.  One day I was on cloud nine, feeling good about a lot of stuff, even received a random text that made me smile.  I should have known that the wind was about to be sucked out of my sails.  I ended the week rowing my little ol’ heart out…I believe I got caught in a riptide and I just kept going in circles.  One day it will all be worth it.  Hopefully as I continue on this journey some things will get weeded out and I will find some peace.  Maybe I’ll get weeded out and others will have peace. :)  Life is crazy, and it’s stuff like this that keeps one going…with ulcers. LOL.

Looking forward to the coming weeks.  Christmas At Our House starts in twelve days.  TWELVE DAYS!!  I must get busy learning my lines. :)  When CAOH ends, so does our semester, then I’m headed to STL for some R&R and a doctor appointment.  Ready for some time off.  One day at a time, one day at a time.

Later,

ERM.

So much stuff has happened over the past couple of weeks.  Sometimes I don’t know if I’m coming or going.  One thing I DO KNOW is that we only have four Monday classes left, and a final on our fifth Monday, for our first semester of RN nursing school ~ and that makes me a happy camper. :)  Looking back to August 17 and the knowledge I have gained since then, I’m amazed.  Some I’m not one-hundred percent comfortable with, if they turned me lose tomorrow I would be TOTALLY lost, and sometimes I still feel like I flounder around a bit…but each day is a learning process and I’m learning a little bit more as we go.

Now onto my title…what motivates me.  I want to be healthy, and with the MS it’s even more important that I take care of my body and exercise and try to eat right.  BUT I think my motivation came from wanting to be skinny and here lately I just don’t care. :)  I’ve been a terrible eater lately, and I’m only going to the gym about twice a week.  I still am motivated to go, but I think if my mentality goes back to the healthy standpoint instead of the desire to be skinny that it will be easier.  It’s very easy to decide that being skinny isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and I will just be fat…whereas if I want to be healthy for a lifelong goal/endeavor it will change my outlook on ‘having’ to give up all the good food that has become a comfort to me the past month as I trudge through the final part of semester one. :)

So here’s to being HEALTHY and not just skinny!! <clink, clink> :)

Need to run…have a care plan, an assessment, and a journal to write.  Oh the joys!

ERM

Is it wrong for me to anticipate Christmas so much?  Maybe.  Because possible it’s not really Christmas that I am anticipating but the fact that I will have three full weeks off school.  I will be able to sleep, eat, and rest without the worry of a book that has to be read or a skill that has to be learned.  Today we did naso-gastric tubes (NG) and feedings…I had the opportunity to feed through the NG tube with a syringe.  I got to go first…they said “well start at the bottom” (of our list of names on the wall)…I’m in the number ten slot for my clinical group.  My stomach fell a little and I felt like I was going to hurl my Oatmeal Squares I had for breakfast.  But once I was done…I was done.  I had all day to prepare for tomorrows lab, CATHETERS.  We watched some videos, they looked a little painful.  :)  I have two labs left.  I’m getting really excited for Christmas. :)

I made a B in my Geriatrics class, not the A I’m used to having…but I passed and this whole way of teaching and learning threw me for a loop the first part of the semester.  I’m happy (or at least accepting) of what I got.  So onward ho!  Carp Diem!  All those little cliches that can be stated that will get me through.  One day at a time!  One day…one day soon in the near future I will be finished.  It may go faster or way slower than I want…but one day.

Last week we had fall break.  I had three whole days that I did not have to get up and go to class.  I did homework in the mornings and went to work a little earlier.  It was nice.  I didn’t get everything done I had hoped (homework wise); but it was a good week.  I spent Friday at the cabin in Van Buren, playing on the water and relaxing.  We kayaked, went on boat rides, played in the woods…had a good day.

God’s Country:
I’m in our church’s annual dinner theater, Christmas at Our House this year.  With my schedule for school and everything else going on people as how I’m going to do it.  My answer at this point is that.  I’ll make it.  It will be fun…and it’s closer to Christmas and my break.

Christmas is coming…soon. :)

ERM

We completed our second week of school this past Thursday, with a not so good outcome.  Not a good experience, but one that I have definitely learned from and will do better going forward.

This whole process has been very eye opening and has taken some adjustments.  They all said ‘it’s going to be hard’, ‘prepare to live, eat, and drink it’, ‘you’ll have no life once you start the program’.  They knew what they were talking about, but I don’t think they took into account if you owned a home, were single, had to work, and had medical bills on top of your school bills to pay out of pocket on a part time income.  It’s all VERY stressful.  But fortunately for me, I’ve been blessed.  I received a scholarship that will cover the cost of my books, I was given a student loan (which I have to pay back eventually…but at least I will have some ‘cushion’ in the bank in case my ends don’t meet); I’ve had family and friends give me financial gifts that have helped tremendously, and as a big kicker one of my medical bills is being reduced.  God is good!!  He will take care of me, I just need to let him.

Th whole study, teaching, thought process of this program is totally different than any I have been in before.  It’s definitely not black/white and you have to think outside of the box on a lot of things.  I think the program itself is a teaching mechanism because nursing is not black/white; each patient you have will be different than the last.  Even though they may have the same illness they will take to different treatments and procedures differently ~ we have to be able to handle each situations as it is and adapt to the fact that even though it’s the same, it’s different.

I’ve designated Thursday as ‘cry night’ if need be.  I don’t have classes on Friday this semester, so Thursday night is one that I can relax just a little and it’s not cram time or I don’t have to worry about having something done for the next morning.  When my body relaxes apparently the only thing it can do is have water seepage from my tear ducts, and I cry.  The stress from the week hits and it’s like…’oh wow, I made it’.  Fourteen more weeks!!

Well, though it’s been great venting a little and sharing…it’s time for me to go work for a bit and then hit the books.  My first big test is Monday (one out of four for my class grade in Geriatrics).  One thing…life is never dull anymore.

Later…ERM.