Still hurting

I'm sorry I haven't responded to each of your comments, but my computer at home has crashed and it is in the shop being fixed. I am at the school library supposed to be doing homework, but I wanted to thank you all for your kind words of sympathy. It is still hard to go home at night. It is hard to open a bag of chips without wondering where Petey's little cry is, but I'm managing ok. I just keep working and going to school. Everything is going to work out. It always does. It is just nice to know that I have so many friends and family that love me.

In case I'm not able to post for a few more days, I hope everyone has a very happy Halloween. This is my favorite night of the year (tonight is) because we get an extra hour of sleep! Woo Hoo! Have a great night everyone and thanks again!

Goodbye, my friend! :`(

I came home last night and was upset. I didn't have a great day at work, but when I opened my door, I didn't have the normal greeting I normally get from my sweet Petey. Petey is my guinea pig I have had for four years. He whines and cries until I feed and water him when I get home. After I put my things down and went to the bathroom, I checked on him. He didn't look good at all. He had gunk in his eyes and just wasn't himself. He wouldn't respond to my calls or anything. I picked him up and just about went hysterical. I started crying and was really worried, so I called one of my friends, Ann, who has experience with little critters. We talked for a good while and I got him to drink a little water out of a straw and got his eyes cleaned out. I just sat on the couch with him on my chest for a long time. I petted him and loved on him until I had to go to bed. When I put him back in his clean cage with lots of water and food, he was a little bit limp, but mostly tired. This is unusual because he is normally panicing to get back into his home. I made him comfortable (or what I thought looked comfy), covered him with his favorite igloo and proceeded to go to bed. About 5:00 this morning I woke up from a dead sleep with a sick feeling. I came to the living room to check on him and he was dead. His eyes are closed and he looks like he is sleeping, but Petey never sleeps. If I so much as open his cage, he jumps and tries to run away from me. I just covered him back up and tried to go back to sleep. I'm so sad today because I've lost a friend. A friend I've nursed back to health and almost lost once. He's been there through my divorice and through school and through all those late nights I couldn't sleep because of the strange noises I was hearing when I was getting used to living on my own. I love you Petey! I'm going to miss you!

Orientation has come and gone!

Wow! I just thought I knew what I was getting into! I know this is going to be crazy, but does anyone know a multi-millionaire who needs to get rid of some extra cash? Because if so, please pass on my information and I'll be happy to accept any donations! Today alone, I spent $200 for books and supplies. That's not to mention the $200 I'll need for uniforms and the $150 I'll need for equipment and the oh roughly $500 I'll need for books for the first day of class. And then there's the $50-$100 for a good pair of nursing shoes, and the countless dollars on notebooks and folders and the list could go on and on. Thankfully financial aid will take care of tuition, but alas, that too will have to be paid back one day! But this too shall pass!

In the mean time, if any of you would like gift ideas for me, please let me know, and I'm sure I can rattle something off! Or if you don't want to hassle with getting the item, I always accept cash and checks and for your convience, I have a paypal account too!

All kidding aside, I'm very excited about the changes taking place in my life. I thank all of you for your patience and understanding as I have endured the challenges of the last few years! You have all been wonderful!

Until next time, I shall go tally up what I need to take out of my next paycheck to make sure everything gets paid for before I start school!

Almost There

Yep, it's Wednesday. Friday is my orientation day for nursing school. I'm ready to get the information I need to get going with the program. I'll post more Friday when I find out what's going on. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

"Thank You!"

Two little words, but when they are said, they mean so much. I had the privilege of sitting with an older gentleman all day today. I sat with him on Sunday, too. I did all of his and his roommates care today. They needed a little more attention, but that's besides the point. Nothing could take away the joy in my heart when I was handed a thank-you card by this gentleman's son before I left. It wasn't necessary, I was just doing my job, but they felt they needed to thank me for my work. Nothing anyone at work could give me could take away the joy that gave me. It reassured me yet again that I made the right decision to go into nursing. I love what I do. I love caring for people, but most of all, I love to see the smiles on their faces when they are truly happy with the care I have given them. It makes all that I do worthwhile. I just thought I would share with you and encourage you to say thank you to those you may not say thank you to enough. I know I have people I take for granted way too much. Mom and Dad, thank you for all your unconditional love and support through all my stages of life. I couldn't have made it this far without you. I love you for all that you have done for me and all that you do for others. God blessed me with parents like you and I thank Him every day for you! I'm sorry I don't say so enough!

Until next time, I'm counting down the days to orientation. It's a week from tomorrow. I'm ready to get going, but three months is going to pass by fast. Have a great night!

I love fall!

Ok, so I'm feeling better. Still have to take meds for another week or so, but such is life. Work was ok this weekend. Hectic as always. It's an ever-changing environment that I am really happy with. I'm so glad that I have made the right decision for my career. I can't wait to get started with nursing school.

I had my follow-up with my neurologist today. We seem to have my headaches under control. With my medications the way they are, I have only had one headache in two whole weeks! I know this may not sound like much to some of you, but to me, this is wonderful! I'm used to dealing with headaches 4-5 times a week!

I'm off today! I have my house open. All the windows and the windows and the patio door. It's about 70 degrees outside and beautiful! I'm so glad that fall finally arrived. I've been able to sleep with my window open at night. It's nice to be able to do this! It's wonderful!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I'm off to study some chemistry. I'm sure we have a test coming up soon. Just not sure when! I'll try to update you soon!

Ok, so maybe it was . . .

strep! Yep, that's right! My dr's office called this morning with the news that my throat culture came back positive for strep. They called in my antibiotic and I got sent home from work. I guess the upside to all of this is that I get to enjoy the first cool day of the fall in my pj's and blanket on my couch and really get ahead on my computer homework. Oh well, such is my life. I hope you are doing better than me! Until next time!

Uggghhhh!!!

Ok, so I haven't posted in over a week. I hope you can forgive me. I had a very busy work week last week. Worked Thursday thru Sunday 12 hour shifts (ok, so I work that every week, but give me some sympathy here!) My chemistry test went ok. We got our tests back Monday, but I missed class (more on that in a minute). I started getting a VERY sore throat on Sunday afternoon and was a little bit concerned, but when I woke up on Monday and could hardly talk, I knew it was time to go back to the doctor (thankfully my doctor is able to work patients in without too much of a wait). I had just been in last week for my yearly checkup and everything was fine. Of course. It always works that way. Well, the strep test came back negative, which is a good thing, but it still didn't explain my sore throat. They sent me packing with instructions to gargle with warm salt water and alternate tylenol and advil for the pain. They sent off a throat culture and will call with the results. By the time we get them, I'll be better. I'm feeling much better today, but I have been off work for the last three days and didn't go to school until tonight. I got an A on my chemistry test, which I'm glad about. It's only a 20 question test, so each question is worth 5 points. That's a big chunck when you miss one question! It's off to bed for me. I have to get up and off to work again early. Another four days straight. But I have had three off, so I shouldn't complain too much. I hope all is well with all of you. Look forward to hearing from you soon!