A long 10 days. . .

I'm sure I have some avid readers out there who are wondering what has happened to me. First let me apologize for my absence. I have been extremely busy with work. I was hoping to have some semblance of a summer break, but the pocket book is screaming for more money to pay more bills. I have been working like a mad woman. When I do get a day off, I tend to get a call asking me to come in. Thankfully, I've learned where my breaking point is and when I need to rest. I can do three shifts in a row. Four is just about too much, but I can do it. I will not do five. My body won't let me!! At least not 12 hour shifts. I have a stretch on the next schedule that I'll be working a lot of days in a row, but I'll be going in late, so I'll get to sleep in. That will make all the difference in the world to me. I'm so not a morning person it isn't funny. I would be perfectly content to work 11 am - 11 pm and be done with it. Because, I'm not a night person either. Sorry. It's just the facts.

There's really nothing new going on in my world. I just wanted to actually post something to let you all know that I am alive and well and that the hospital hasn't swallowed me whole, yet. My counter is down to 197 days today!! Woo hoo!! I'm under 200 days until I am officially a nurse. I'm so tired of being in limbo it's not funny. I have all these skills that I can't use right now, but I just have to make the best of it.

Well, I just got paid, so I need to go pay some bills and buy some groceries. Hope all is well with everyone. I'll try to not be ten days again! Until next time, cj

Same stuff, different day . . .

Not much new is going on here. I'm still working 4-5 12 hours shifts a week. Right now, I'm working three and have 1 off. My days off consist of catching up on laundry, playing tennis, and over all just relaxing. I'm having fun learning to play tennis, tho I'm very much a perfectionist and if I don't get something right the first time I try it really irritates me. We are still hitting balls against the backboard. The last time we played, I think I hit more over the fence than I hit against the wall. I'm working on holding my racket correctly. Ugh, I'm getting there.

Friday proved to be an interesting day. I came home from work to a message on my door. There had been a water leak in the apartment upstairs and it came through my ceiling. Apparently it soaked my floor in my living room and bathroom. My ceiling in both the living room and bathroom are bulging and need to be fixed. Thankfully I don't have to do anything about it. They had to come in both Friday and Saturday to clean my carpet because my carpet was still soaking wet on Saturday in front of the bathroom. From what the apartment complex told me, they've fixed the problem. I hope so. This is the second leak into my apartment since I've lived here. Thankfully none of my property was damaged. My biggest concern is my laptop! It lives in my living room.

I sat a one on one today. I was able to get some work done on my computer. I still have some other stuff to do with it. I'm working on saving a lot of my stuff to DVD. I have amassed quite a bit of material and really need to clean up my comp before next semester!! I'm starting that project tonight.

I hope everyone is doing great!! I'm hanging in. I'll try to keep up to date more often!! I'm still walking routinely. I just need to get rid of the blisters on the back of my heels and all will be well!! I'll be back soon, cj

Tagged again . . . "Eight Things"

Disappearing John tagged me after having a good day off to participate in the following blog meme.

The rules are as follow: Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. Write a post about your own random things. Post these rules. At the end of your blog, tag 8 people and post their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged.

I'll give this a shot. I'm not in much of a thinking mind right now. Still pretty wiped out from my ventures yesterday, but I do plan to continue (with the proper preparation)!!

1. I have just started an endeavor with tennis! So far, I love it. However, I must remember to protect myself better against the sun. I am very fair skinned and burn very easily. I don't know why I forget things like this. I'll keep you posted on how my tennis venture goes!

2. I love my sleep! I tend to miss my alarms, so I have started setting two alarms. A couple days ago, I forgot to set my second alarm. I automatically turned off the first one and went right back to sleep. Only to wake up 15 minutes late for work!! I have learned to triple check my alarms before I go to bed.

3. I played the clarinet throughout junior high and high school and some of college. My last two years of high school, I was selected for the Department of Defense Honor Band in Germany! It was a ton of fun and a lot of work. I played with a lot of other talented students and at times didn't feel like I should've been there, but it was worth all the practice. I occasionally will pick up my clarinet and run a scale or two. If I plan to get serious about it again, I need to invest in some other reeds. The ones that I have are WAY too hard for me right now!

4. I have been to England, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Holland. I still have the travel bug in me!! As soon as I finish nursing school and get back on my feet, I plan to be a travel nurse so I can see more of the U.S. I would like to visit Australia and New Zealand.

5. I am extremely organized when it comes to school, but can't seem to get my act together at home. Go figure.

6. I grind my teeth. Because of this, I currently have 5 crowns and very stubby teeth! I also have TMJD. It's not near as bad as it could be, so I'm very thankful for that.

7. I have three email addresses, but only actively use one of them. The other two are for my IM services. How else am I supposed to talk to all my friends and delete all that junk mail?

8. I got my nickname from my lovely nephew. When he was just learning to talk, he couldn't say "Crystal" and it came out "Pickle". I've been "Aunt Pickle" ever since. He's almost 7 now and has tried to call me "Aunt Crystal" but I won't let him. In fact I ignore him until he calls me Pickle!! He's the light of my life and growing up way too fast!

It took me way too long to do this. My brain can't think anymore, so I tag whoever wants to play!

Everyone have a great evening,cj

Nice day off . . .

I had a really good day off today. It started by me sleeping in (of course!) I then had to go drop off my appeal for my financial aid. They received it and it is under review. I gave them way more information than they were asking for, but I really need this to come through!! After that, I went to spend the day with a friend. We started out by playing tennis. I told you earlier before I have never played before, so it was interesting. We hit balls against the backboard for about an hour. I remember to wear my contacts so that I could wear my sunglasses, but I forgot to bring a hat. Needless to say, my face is rather red right now. I also have some sun on my arms and the back of my neck. I also forgot the sunscreen! It was another lesson learned!! We had a blast and plan to continue playing on my days off!! We then went back to the house and cooled off in the pool!! It was a wonderful way to relax after sweating so much. When we got back inside, I was so tired I really didn't know what to do. It's a good feeling, but man, I really need to get myself back into shape! Oh well, it'll happen soon enough. I'm off to a good start!! It's off to the shower and then relax before bed for me. Have a great night! cj

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

I wanted to take this chance to wish my mother, and all my friends out there a Happy Mother's Day!!

I worked again today. It wasn't too bad, for the second day in a row. I'm kinda worried about tomorrow, now!! Oh well, easy come, easy go, right!! There's not much going on in my life other than work. And it's not too exciting! I did start walking tonight. There's a lake on my way home from work. I took a change of clothes and shoes and changed before I left work. Walking all the way around the lake once is just over a mile. I'm trying real hard to get myself moving more. I need to get my energy level up and get a little bit of weight off! I hope this and a few diet changes is the answer. I plan to walk at least three nights after I work. It's a nice little trail, but due to the amount of rain we've had lately, there was a big spot that had a lot of mud! I had to slow my pace down quite a bit ~ even though I wasn't going all that fast. It took me 30 minutes to walk the trail. I'm hoping to get my time down as I get in shape. Then I can go up to two laps and call it a night. I'll come home and shower and go to bed. Sounds like a peachy life, huh?

Oh well, I hope everyone has had a wonderful day. I'm off to shower and to bed. I have to head back to work tomorrow, cj

Give me more hoops to jump through. . . .

So, why is it that while I'm here working my butt off, I can't seem to get ahead? I logged on to our school internal website to check the progress of my financial aid for the fall; and it turns out that I have to appeal to financial aid AGAIN, so that I can get money to go to school. Why, you ask? Well, let me explain this long STUPID situation to you.

I chose to attend a community college to save money. Having previously attended two universities, I have acquired almost enough hours for a bachelor's degree. I could just never decide what I wanted to do. When you attend a community college, and you have over 90 hours, they don't want to give you money. They make you fill out more stupid forms and jump through more hoops. Well, I thought I was done with all of this when I started back to school 2.5 years ago. It turns out, that they only approved my aid through August. This is a problem because, as we all know, I don't graduate until December. I am so incredibly frustrated right now, I really don't know what to do. Of course, I'm going to jump through their stupid hoops because I desperately need the money so that I can accomplish my goals without killing myself between work and school and stress next semester.

Ugh, I seriously just needed to vent this out. I'm just really trying to get through so that this time next year my life will be so much easier!!

On a happier note, pinning was today. It was a nice ceremony. In seven months, it will be me!! Afterwards, my friend Holly invited to a party thrown by her sisters for her. I went and had a good time visiting and eating lots of good food. They had the place decorated soooo cute. I'll post pictures later. They are too cute not to post!! I need to close, I have to work the next three days. Have a great weekend, cj

How relaxing . . .

Well, the last two days have been very nice. I didn't realize how much I really needed to just do some things around the house and relax. My grades are officially in. And I thought I would share them with you! Just to prove I wasn't fibbing!!

So, there you go, you get to see what I see!! It's kinda strange that all that work is summed up into two little letters, but I guess that's the way it goes! I want to thank all of you for your kind words and well wishes!! You have truly been an inspiration and encouragement through this journey we call nursing school. I now have one more semester left until I can officially call myself a nurse. This blog has been my way of sharing my experiences, both good and bad. You have the option of reading. I had no idea that it would turn into the support system that has developed.

I've managed to get quite a bit done around the house since I haven't had to worry about school work. My kitchen is now next to spotless. I just need to mop the floor and that will happen today. I can actually walk in my living room without tripping over school work and other miscellaneous paperwork. All my laundry is clean. All I have left to do is deep clean the bathroom and vacuum the entire apartment. It may sound like a daunting task, but when you have no school work to hold you back, it's not that bad!! I've neglected my house on account of school and work and it's time to get it back in shape!! So, enough jibber jabber!! I'm back to work. I have to head back to work tomorrow, then Friday is pinning for the class ahead of me. I have several friends that just graduated, so I'm attending. I'll try to take pics to share!! Have a great day! I know I'm feeling better already! cj

Third semester is finally over!!

Well, I did it! I completed my 3rd semester of nursing school with a "B" in theory and an "A" in clinicals! I worked really hard for both of my grades and earned every bit of both of them! Today was a pretty stressful day because I knew I had so much riding on my final. It could have easily gone either way. I really felt the stress a little more than half way through the exam. I had a "mini-meltdown" and had to excuse myself (with an instructor) to the bathroom to regain my composure. I really had a sinking feeling that I didn't know most of the questions on the exam and that I wasn't going to pull the 80 off that I needed. I actually managed to do a little bit better than an 80.

I went to lunch with my friend Donna at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and we both were able to relax a little bit. It was nice to be able to visit with her and enjoy a meal at the same time.

When I got home, I took a small nap because I am just utterly exhausted. I'm just so tired from working and studying, I don't know what to do. I have two days off and have a lot to do around my house. So much has been neglected while I've been struggling to get through the last few weeks, I've just been waiting for my time to free up to where I could feel like I could clean the way I needed to without feeling like I was interfering with my studies! I've accomplished a little bit this evening, so I'm feeling some better.

In the midst of everything that happened this weekend, I failed to mention a very special birthday! I did however, remember to call! Mom, I hope you had a wonderful birthday! You are a truly wonderful woman and example to me. Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made through the years to help make my life easier!! I love you!

I hope everyone has a great week. I'll try to post more before I head back to work. Take care, cj

Happy May and a whole bunch of other stuff . . .

So, April has come and gone, and May is now upon us. I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by. By my posts you'd think that it was the longest semester in history, but in all reality time does fly by!!

I completed my clinicals today. I can't believe I'm done with my 3rd semester clinicals. I've successfully completed pediatrics (OB was done before spring break!!) This week was kind of laid back, but still eventful, nonetheless! We did get to leave the floor early today and all go to lunch.


This week was also ATI testing. We had half a day of lecture on Monday and then after lunch had our testing. This is our NCLEX predictor testing and we have to pass the exams at 82% or remediate. The tests this semester were OB and Pediatrics. I managed to pass OB with and 85%; but have to remediate pediatrics. I think I managed to get a 79% or something like that.

I work tomorrow and Friday and then study, study, study the rest of the weekend for my final. The final is Monday at 0830. After it's over, I'm officially finished with my 3rd semester!! Wow, what a trip it has been!! I have a busy summer ahead of me, but hopefully I'll be able to play catch up on some of my bills. I'm so ready to be a normal person again. I don't want to have to live paycheck to paycheck and worry about what I'm going to eat and how the next bill I get is going to get paid. I need to get off here, there are massive thunderstorms in the area and I don't want to lose my laptop!!! Have a great night. I'll post more this weekend!! cj