Stupid Snow part 2!

Today I was supposed to have a test in my nursing concepts class, as well as be tested on peri care in lab. Yesterday, the teachers stressed that unless we got a level 3 snow emergency, we would have classes as scheduled and the tests would go on. They mentioned how last year during the blizzard, they had a power outage at the school and took tests in rooms with lots of windows, so the chances of us not having these tests today was not good.

So, this morning, in a level 2, I made my way to school...averaging about 35 mph on the freeway. As soon as I walked into the classroom, I was told that the nursing concepts class and test were cancelled today as well as this afternoon's lab. So the only class I had today was A & P, for which we had a guest speaker who ended up being late.

I'm a little upset that I risked my life driving into school this morning (and again driving back home) basically for nothing, however, I did not feel fully prepared for the tests today, so I am glad to have some extra study time!

Stupid Snow!

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a little snow. It's pretty, and fun to play in, but it just wrecks people's days. It took me an hour to drive to school this morning, when on a normal traffic day, it only takes about 25 minutes. I even left a little early this morning, to allow myself some extra time, but I did not figure it would take me over twice as long as usual to get there. People freaking suck at driving! I spent the first 35 minutes of my trip this morning going a total of about 6 miles. That sucks a$$!

I finally get there, and the guest lecturer we were supposed to have today (since our normal teacher for that class is out of town this week) was coming from Dayton, and ended up not even coming in because of the snow! We ended up watching about an hour worth of very-poorly-acted-out videos circa 1985 that we were supposed to watch today anyway, after that class. But I am a little upset, because my daughters had a 2 hour delay this morning for school, and the whole way in I just kept thinking that I should have just stayed home this morning and came in for my lab this afternoon at 2:30.

Oh well, I ended up leaving after the videos and going to the gym, which I probably wouldn't have done if I had stayed home this morning. So, I guess something positive came out of it, huh?

5 years

Today marks 5 years since my mom passed away. I remember finding out the terrible news all too well. On the night of the 22nd, my younger daughter had gone sliding across the kitchen floor and fell flat on her nose. We took her to the urgent care, because we were pretty sure that her nose was broken. When we got back from there, I thought about calling my mom to let her know, but it was kind of late, so I figured I would wait until the next day to call. Sadly, I never got the chance.

Some time around 2:30 or 3:00 am, we were woken up by the doorbell being rung repeatedly along with a constant, loud banging on the front door. Pete got up and looked out the window and said "it's the police!". Our first thought was that our security system had gone off and we somehow missed it. So, he went downstairs and answered the door. Within seconds, he was back upstairs telling me that it was my SIL and her father (who is a cop and was on duty at the time) at the door and that something was wrong with my mom. For some reason, the ringer on our bedroom phone had been turned off, so repeated attempts to call us that night had failed, so they came to our house.

I walked to the bottom of the stairs, where they stood, just inside the door. My SIL said that my mom was at the hospital, and asked if I wanted to know what happened then, or wait til we got there. I said I wanted to know. She proceeded to tell me that my mom had had a massive heart attack...and she didn't make it. I remember shaking my head and saying "No, this isn't supposed to happen right now". There I was 6 months pregnant, and she was only 45 years old!

Trin's dad insisted that I ride to the hospital in the cruiser. That drive, which was actually probably less than 10 minutes, seemed to take an eternity. I sat in the front seat, shaking and trying not to throw up, as the lights on the side of the road were a complete blur to me.

Apparently, my mom had gone upstairs to bed around 10pm, and my dad had fallen asleep in the living room watching tv. He woke up and went up to bed around 1:00 am, and had found her lifeless, lips turning blue. He immediately called 911, and they tried to revive her, and continued to do so even after arriving at the hospital, but it was simply too late. I still feel bad to this day, that I did not just call her that previous night. Even if I had woken her up, I would have been able to hear her voice one last time, and tell her I love her one last time.

I am 29 years old, and there are still times when I need my mommy! She was always the person I would call whenever I was feeling happy or sad or overwhelmed. I talked to her every day. That time was extremely difficult for me, because I was devastated, and I couldn't call her and talk to her about it.

I am currently going through a very trying and stressful time in my life, and I would love to have my mom around to comfort me and hug me. I miss her SO very much!!!

Shopping anyone?

Something happened to my iphone yesterday. I'm not sure what, but I couldn't use it. It kept telling me that I had no service and that it was activating. So I stopped into Best Buy, where I got it, to see if they could figure out what the problem was and fix it for me. Of course, they couldn't. They told me I'd have to go to an AT&T store. So I found out where one was and went.

The guy there thought it was the SIM card and replaced it. Unfortunately, that was not the problem. At that point the phone was saying that it needed a repair and I was sent on my way to the Apple store. The guy there never did tell me what the problem with the phone was, but he ended up issuing me a new one. The only problem with that, is now I have to re-enter all of my contact information (hopefully I can remember everyone's numbers, or at least get them to tell me again), and I will also have to re-download all the apps I already had on my phone.

On a positive note, I got me some awesome deals today while I was out and about. I stopped in Old Navy and they were having a huge sale. 50% off of clearance items! I walked out of there with 2 bags full of stuff for $17.24! I got my daughters each a shirt, and a total of 5 pairs of pants that ended up being .48 cents a piece! Got my son a pair of pj pants for $3.49, and myself jeans for $5.49, gray cords for $1.49, and a pair of black tights for $2.24. Nice!

Of course I couldn't stop there, I then went to the JC Penney outlet store and picked up a couple new pairs of scrubs (tops and bottoms) for under $22. Not bad, if I do say so myself!

Bed baths and beyond!

Today in nursing lab, we got tested on sterile gloving and focused on patient perineal care. We have anatomically correct mannequins on which to learn. We worked in groups (because there are only 4 mannequins) and gave the "patients" bed baths. We had to ungown them, bathe them (focusing on peri care), and change the bedding all while they were laying in the beds.

This wasn't just any bath though. Our "patients" had vomit on the front of their gowns, and had also wet and soiled their beds. And, when we turned them on their sides in bed, they leaked mucus from their trache sites. Mmmmm!

I cannot WAIT til I get to go to the nursing home during clinicals and do all this on real live people! (read sarcasm here!)

Anyway, we will all be tested in our long lab next week on what we learned today. That should be great. I was nervous today just being tested on putting on and taking off sterile gloves properly! Fortunately, I did it perfectly the first time, so yay me! Wish me luck for next week!

Pondering

I just ate a bowl of raisin bran sweetened with a packet of splenda with fiber. I wonder what the outcome of that will be...so to speak.

Kid quote

My daughter was eating a banana and started talking about how they are filled with protein. So I asked her with a smirk "Do bananas have a lot of protein?" Her response: "Mommy, I'm eleven. I don't know everything."

Well, that's news to me! I thought eleven year olds indeed know everything, or at least think they do!

4 year old logic

I had the following conversation with my 4 year old son on our way home this afternoon:

Him: I want a pet. I want to get a Cat and name him Butthead.

Me: Baby, we can't have a cat because then mommy would sneeze all the time.

Him: Well, don't smell it.

Mmm...cereal!

I usually start my day with a bowl of cereal. My cereal of choice lately has been Special K Red Berries (well, ok, the Great Value brand "Strawberry Awake"). It is very delicous!


So, while walking around Giant Eagle the other day, I saw that they had Special K cereals on sale, so I picked up a couple of boxes. (Btw, I don't think G.E. even sells generic cereals. If they did, I didn't see any.) I grabbed the Chocolatey Delight, because I'm a major chocoholic!

I must say, I am not a fan of this cereal. It basically has zero flavor. I am very disappointed. I figured there was no way I could go wrong with chocolate cereal, but I was very wrong. I don't know if it has "diet" chocolate in it or what, but it just wasn't good. Maybe my kids will eat it.

I also got a box of the Cinnamon Pecan.

This one is MUCH better. I had a bowl of this for breakfast today, and it was quite delectable.

Now I need to decide which flavor to try next!

Sweetness!

I love my little guy SO much! He is rotten as can be, but also the sweetest boy ever! I was dropping him off at pre-school this afternoon for the first day back after Christmas break, and as the teacher opened the door and welcomed the kids into the classroom, he walked toward the door and stopped, turned around, and (unprompted) gave me the "I love you" sign.

It was sooo cute and so freakin' sweet! He's definitely got me wrapped around those cute little fingers of his. :)

While I'm on the subject of sweet...I saw an ad for this in my Women's Health magazine today:

Splenda with fiber! Looks interesting. I'll have to give it a try for sure.

A little nervous, a little excited!

I am feeling so many emotions in regards to going back to school. I took classes Fall quarter, but they were all online. One week from tomorrow, I will be starting nursing school. My classes will, for the most part, all be on campus. I will be going to school year-round for nearly 2 and a half years.

I'll be honest, I am nervous about going back to school! I'm worried about how I will do, if I'll make friends easily, if I'll somehow screw something up, what the eff I'm going to do with my kids over the summer while I am in school, and many other things. I am excited, however, to get this all started and over with. I want to be done with school NOW, and the longer I put it off, the longer it will be until I can finally graduate and start my career. As it is, I'll already be 31 when I get my RN. (Not that that is old, but when I think about how long I could have been doing this already if I had gone to college right out of high school...)

I'm sure it will all work out and the next 2.5 years will fly (I hope!), but I am just a bit anxious!

Time for a change...

It has been a while since I have changed my hair, and the color was starting to grow out. Fortunately, the difference between the color and my natural hair color was not drastic. However, I saw some pictures of myself that my aunt took in November and I could definitely see my roots in them. I've been wanting to highlight my hair again for a while now, and when I saw those pictures, I decided it was time. So, I bought a do-it-yourself highlighting kit and got to work today.

It was the kind where you have to put on this plastic bonnet and then poke holes in the cap and pull strips of you hair through. They are supposed to be pretty fool proof. Well, when I was done, it kind of ended up looking like I basically colored the top layer of my hair blonde and left the bottom the same. I guess it doesn't look too bad. I'll have to get used to seeing myself with blonde hair again, because it has been over a year since I last was. I'm not sure if I will leave it this way for a while, or make a call to Trinity's mom and see if she can do something else to it.

Anyway, here's a picture for your visual enjoyment...