So, uhh...

Can we agree that it is incredibly rude to not return emails or phone calls, especially in the professional setting? I am tired of being blown off! Not only have I had 2 emails to my teacher completely ignored, I have left 2 voicemails for the nurse manager of my preceptor trying to confirm my starting tomorrow morning. I was told Friday, by my teacher, to be there Monday-Thursday starting this week, so unless I hear otherwise, I am planning on showing up at the hospital at 6:30 in the morning. I will be extremely pissed off if I get there and have to turn around and come home!

On a more pleasant note, I am loving the weather today! It is currently 82 degrees, though a little windy. Took Bella to the dog park this afternoon, and now sitting here with the windows open in the house enjoying the breeze!

Okay, this is getting a little ridiculous...

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I received a call from my teacher letting me know that she was switching my preceptor and I would be working night shift at a certain hospital. I found out this morning that it is actually a different hospital from what I was told yesterday, but still night shift. Alright, I preferred the first hospital, but whatever. Then by this afternoon, I was told that I will actually be working 7a-3p M-Th. OMG, seriously? How many times are they going to change this around on me? Guess I'll have to wait and see if it changes again before I'm supposed to be there at 6:30 Monday morning! ARGH! I am so ready to be done with this school!!

Updates

First to update my earlier post: 1) I decided to go ahead and blind people and wear the skirt today. 2) I stopped at Walmart to buy some of the Olay lotion on my way home but for some reason, they didn't have it. So, I decided to try out a similar product by Neutrogena. It smelled decent in the bottle, but I used it when I got home, and it definitely has that self-tanner smell to it. I'm not a fan of that, so I think I'm going to return it and go somewhere else to find the Olay.

The other update is regarding my school schedule: 1) I had my Friday times incorrect, I'll actually be at school from 10:30-6:00, not 8:30-4:00, like I'd originally said. (I went back and changed my post to make it correct). 6pm kinda sucks for a Friday, but whatever. 2) I got a voicemail from my teacher today informing me that she is switching my preceptor. I was quite surprised by this after how adamant she was in telling us that there would be NO changes once the assignments had been made. Alas, she is switching me to be with someone in a Hospital working the night shift. I do not, however, know what unit I will be on yet. I will hopefully find that out tomorrow.

So, now I have no idea what my schedule will be over the next couple of months other than the fact that it will be nights. It is very possible that my schedule will change from week to week, as nurses in Hospitals don't always work the same days of the week every week. So, I'll have to wait and see on that. But, at least I will get to try out this whole night shift thing and see how I like it.

It's about that time

I need to start using some lotion with a self tanner in it. I was thinking about wearing a skirt today because of the nice weather, but my legs are rather pasty, so, I may reconsider that decision. We'll see.

There are a couple of products that I like because they actually smell good (a lot of self tanning lotion stinks!), and they don't turn you orange. They look really natural and aren't streaky. Mostly, I think, because they aren't a straight-up self tanner, but rather just lotions, with self tanner in them.

One that I've used and liked is Dove Energy Glow. However, when searching for it just now, I found out that Dove is no longer making it. :(

The other is Olay Touch of Sun. This is just as good, and smells good, the problem is that it's a little more expensive than the Dove.

So, it looks like I need to pick up some of the Olay lotion next time I'm at the store! :)

One more day

Tomorrow is my last day of Spring break, then it's back to business on Friday. I got my preceptor assignment last weekend. I'll be doing in-home hospice care. I'm not exactly thrilled about that, but hopefully it will be fine. My goal is to work as much as possible to get in all of my required hours (which will mean working 8-5 Monday -Thursday, then having classes 10:30-6:00 on Fridays) and having the last few weeks of the term to focus on studying for finals and the hesi exam. So, for at least the first 5-6 weeks of this quarter I will have a nice, full-time schedule. I hope it goes by quickly!

Another lazy day

Slept in this morning then watched New Moon with my oldest. Now I'm watching my son play his Legos Star Wars game on the wii. The kid LOVES this game. Gotta love lazy PJ days at home! :)

Boom!

I just figured out who I think Lauren Alaina on Idol looks like. The chick that plays Sookie on Gilmore Girls. At least in her face.

My break

I got to shadow a friend the other night who is a nurse in a NICU. I really liked it. That is definitely a unit I would love to work on! Right now my first choice is still labor and delivery, but NICU is a close second. I have a feeling I'm going to have to end up taking whatever I can get to start off with though.

As for Spring break, I'm enjoying it. However, I am quite ready for my kids' break to be over! They are getting to the point where they are starting to really get sick of each other and are fighting over everything. I think it's just about time for me to make that kidless trip to the store I mentioned before...

Wake up!

I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night. I don't know why, I just could not fall asleep. Finally, around 2:00 am, I was just about there when I heard the doorbell ring twice followed by someone banging on the door. Hmm... It took me a few seconds to decide if I really heard it or not then decided that I had, so I got up. I woke up Pete, because I wasn't about to open the door to anyone at 2 am. We looked out the window there was a cop car parked on the street at the end of the driveway. Hmm again...

Well, this certainly brought back some unpleasant memories. So, my heart started racing. What on earth could be going on? My phone had been by my side the entire night. So, I stood at the top of the stairs as he opened the front door. Turns out, it was just a cop that was driving around in our neighborhood and noticed our garage door was up and wanted to let us know because we "probably want to put that down overnight".

Well, thaaank yooou, officer! While I am glad to know that our neighborhood is being patrolled at night, it really didn't help my already sleepless night.

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

(Ok, not sure why that's my title, but 1) I have a hard time coming up with titles, 2) That stupid, annoying song is in my head right now, and 3) well, I say Friday in this post a couple of times so, why not?)

One week of my break is almost over. :( It's going by too fast! Next week my kids will be on Spring break. Fortunately, my oldest is almost 14 so I can leave them home for a little bit for some mommy time! Sometimes, I just need to take a trip to the store without any little people with me, ya dig?

I'm not sure yet how my first week of Spring quarter will play out. I haven't yet heard who my preceptor will be nor where I will be going, so it's possible I won't even be able to start getting those hours in until the second week. If that's the case, then I'll have almost another week off since I will only have classes on Fridays!

On another note, I'm trying to decide what to do with my hair. It has been a looong time since it's even been trimmed and it really needs some work. My roots are getting a little out of control, so color is in order too! Just gotta make a decision by next Friday...

Last clinical DONE!

Today I had my last clinical. It's kind of exciting and kind of scary. Next quarter I'll be working one-on-one with a preceptor. I'll likely be working 2-3 twelve hour shifts per week for a good portion of the term and then having classes all day on Fridays. I'm kind of hoping for night shift. It is what I am thinking I want to work, so it would be a good chance to get a taste of it to see if I can really handle it. Weekends would be nice, too, because that would leave most of my weekdays free (and without kids) to study. However, I have no choice in the matter. I have to take whatever they assign to me and work whenever my preceptor works.

We left clinical today at 11:00 and went to bd's Mongolian Grill for lunch. It was only the 2nd time I've ever been there. It was yummy! We hung around there for a while and then most people left but my instructor wasn't ready to go home yet, so she and I went and did a little shopping at NY and Company and then she introduced me to Whole Foods. Ok, so I've heard of Whole Foods before, but had never actually been inside of one. We literally spent about an hour just walking around in there. She's seriously the best (and coolest) instructor I've ever had. Love her!

Now to enjoy my Spring Break!

I passed!

Phew...Finals are over and I'm movin' on to next term! Looking forward to my time off!!

Focus Pocus

I am having serious issues with trying to focus tonight. I see the words in front of me, but I keep finding myself thinking about other things instead of comprehending what I'm reading. Grrrr! It doesn't help that I'm sleepy. Stupid time change!

One more!

Well, one final down, one to go! I got a 100% on today's final. Woot! Now I just need to get motivated to study for tomorrow's med-surg final. That's the one that will actually be difficult. I spent lots of time studying over the weekend, but I still feel like I need to go back over everything. I'm going to spend a couple hours on it this evening, and maybe tomorrow morning. Can't wait til tomorrow's final is over! I will still have a half a day of clinical on Wednesday, but it's going to be an easy day and my group is going to lunch together after! Just 2 more days til I get a break! Well, a break from school. Then I need to focus on getting caught back up on the laundry I've been putting off in order to study...

Ow!

At some point last night, my throat started really hurting. I don't have a fever or any other symptoms of illness (yet) other than that but, the pain feels like it is getting progressively worse throughout today. :( This is really not a good time for me to be sick. I am studying for finals this weekend, then Monday and Tuesday have to take said finals and Wednesday go to my last clinical.

Here's hoping I can get some rest this weekend along with my studying and feel better by Monday!

Another injury...

My current showering setup is different than any other I've had in my entire life in that it has absolutely nowhere for me to prop up a leg in order to shave. Even when I've had a separate shower and tub in the past, it had a seat in the corner, perfect for resting a foot on. So, I'm forced to attempt to prop my foot against the wall of the shower to shave my legs. This can sometimes be tricky as a wet foot against a wet wall is not the best combination for friction.

Anyway, last night as I was showering and shaving, I lifted up a foot to press against the shower wall and the side of my toe banged really hard against something metal (it doesn't help that I can't see sh*t without my glasses or contacts, which I don't generally wear while showering). It hurt, but I thought it was just a bump. Well, as I got out of the shower, I noticed there was blood in the water going down the drain, and then on my towel, so I figured I must have nicked something as I was shaving. So, I put on my glasses and started to look myself over to see where I was bleeding. Turns out, it was from a nice gape in the side of my toe from hitting the metal.

Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother with shaving. But, then I think about the hairiness that would ensue from not, and I figure I'll just have to live with the resulting injuries.

Disaster!

So last night, I was sitting in the living room when I heard something in the other room fall. However, I didn't get up right away to go see what it was. Not too long later, I noticed the smell of bleach and started wondering where it was coming from. So then I remembered the noise and went to the laundry room where my suspicions were confirmed. A bottle of bleach had somehow managed to fall off the shelf and into the open, but empty, washing machine. The bottle was in there upside down and empty. Hmm. I found the lid on the floor. And the basket of dirty clothes in front of the washing machine got sprayed with bleach! Right on top were my favorite, chocolate brown sheets! :( Not to mention all of the other clothes that got splattered with bleach. My favorite yoga pants, a few shirts, and some pj pants. Not good.

Getting there!

This term at school is coming close to an end. It has actually passed by fairly quickly. I have the rest of this week, then next week of classes, then the week after that is finals week. We were supposed to be done with clinicals after next week, but we'll have them finals week due to the one we missed due to the weather.

After that I'll have a couple of much needed weeks off (just in time to help my grandma move again) before going back to finish up my (hopefully) last quarter! Can't. Freaking. Wait. to be done!

Smile

I woke up this morning with this song in my head:

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky
you'll get by.

If you smile through your pain and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through
For you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying.
You'll find that life is still worthwhile-
If you just smile.



Lyrics found here: http://www.metrolyrics.com/smile-lyrics-charlie-chaplin.html

Music Shows

Well, I have made it up through episode 12 of Glee season 1. Some of them I'd seen before, but a lot I hadn't. Still have 10 more to go. I'm pretty sure I've seen all of this season's so far. While it is a somewhat cheesy show, I still really like it!

Of course, I'm still into A.I., even after all this time. I started watching it when the show first started in 2002, and I still watch it every season. I also like the show The Sing-Off. I think I am just a sucker for singing shows because I really enjoy singing and music myself.

OG, JB, and Glee

I had a nice day yesterday
with my girlies. We ate lunch at Olive Garden and went to see the director's fan cut version of the Never Say Never movie. We had already seen the original version, but this had extra footage, so we had to see it again. ;)

Today, I helped my younger daughter spend her gift card to Justice that she got for her birthday. She got herself a J.B. t-shirt amongst other things.

Now, I'm just chillin' for the rest of the day. I'm going to have myself a Glee marathon! I started watching the show this season (season 2), and have seen a few of last season's episodes, but I want to watch them all! :)

Long day!

Man, today seemed to just drag. I had 3 patients today, so I kept pretty busy. I'd hate to know how long the day would have seemed if I'd had a bunch of down time!

After clinical, I hit the grocery store for a few things, came home and got a shower, then made and ate dinner. Now, I'm pretty much ready to crash, but I still have to go put away left overs, load the dishwasher, sweep and mop the kitchen, and make the kids' lunches for tomorrow. Gah!

Almost done

I did not have class today because, this week and next, our groups will be doing our teaching projects we've been working on all term. My group will go teach next week, but today, we got together to try to finish up our project. Pretty much all we have left to do is our individual papers that go along with the project and we need to do a "rehearsal" of sorts so that it isn't awkward once we get there. :) Can't wait to get this out of the way!

And I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the tiiiiime!

Can't get this song out of my head. Thanks, Lady Antebellum...

Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor
Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without I just need you now

Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all

It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without I just need you now
I just need you now

Oh baby I need you now


(lyrics found at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858791276/)

TGIF

I am so glad this week is over! I made it through mid-terms!

Now, I need to go pick up a few things for my daughter's slumber party tonight, do a little last minute cleaning, and ice her cake.

We will be going ice skating for a couple of hours this evening as part of her party. I have yet to decide if I want to even attempt to skate with the girls. It has been yeeears since I last ice skated, and I will inevitably fall on my arse if I do! We'll see how it goes.

Hmmph!

I really hate the headache that results from crying! :(

Ugh, I'm just being all kinds of whiny lately!

I is dumm!

This week has been pretty stressful with school. I've spent may hours working on papers and studying for tests. My biggest complaint is that I can't seem to figure out how to study for this med/surg class. It seems that no matter how much I study, read the chapters forward and backward, I still don't know the information he asks for on the tests! I know a lot of other people in my class feel the same way. So at least I know it's not just me having issues.

I go through the chapters, and I think I know the material, but when the test is in front of me, It seems as though I'd not even opened the book! I don't understand it! God, I wish I was smarter! I wish this wasn't so difficult for me! For some reason, this is the hardest class for me, by far, in the whole nursing course. Before, if anything, I may have been striving to end up with an A or B in the class. This class, though, I am honestly just hoping I can pass! I need at least a 78% to do so!

I'm kind of having a little mini break down right now. I need to pull it together!

Boo hoo! Self Pity Party Time!

So, I have spent the past 3 hours looking up the required information I need to write one of the two papers I have to write for missing a clinical. I am not even done gathering all the information for this one paper yet! I still have quite a bit to look up, then I need to put it into the form of a research paper in APA format, then I need to do a care plan on the disease. After that, I have to do all of this again for another disease! Uggh!

Seriously, it's like I'm being punished for being sick! Ridiculous. I think that a make-up clinical day at the end of the term would have been sufficient! Instead, they use the make-up clinicals for the people who missed more than the one we are supposedly "allowed" to miss. Personally, I think that is bass ackwards. I think they should do the make-up day for people who miss one, and if they miss two, then they write a paper (and not 2 papers!). But I'm not the one that makes that decision, so my opinion really doesn't matter.

I still have a long freaking chapter to read to study for my test on Thursday, and I will be in clinical all day tomorrow! :( Procrastination rarely pays off (except of course in situations like having your assignment changed on you after having already started...)!

I CANNOT WAIT to be done with school!!!!!!

***UPDATE***
Clinicals actually got canceled for tomorrow! (Well, postponed I guess I should say since we have to make it up at the end of the quarter.) Sweet!! At least that gives me more time to work on these papers and study! Now hopefully my power won't go out...

Is it spring yet?

I have 2 tests this week! One tomorrow, and one on Thursday. I have been trying to get some studying in tonight. I'm having a bit of trouble keeping focused though. I really just want to curl up in my bed and go to sleep!

I am not looking forward to all the snow and freezing rain that is anticipated over the next couple of days, either. Unfortunately, it will likely not mean any extra time off for me, but rather extra drive time to and from school, not to mention clinical on Wednesday. I *really* don't like leaving my house at 5:00 in the morning!

Thinking...

I have been thinking about possibly getting another tattoo. But not really sure what I want or where I want it. I want the hearts on my back to be recolored, and maybe have that one added onto. I also thought about getting something really small on my wrist. Hmmm...

Friiiiiiday!

Finally! Made it through another week. Think I'm going to relax and do nothing tonight. Sometime this weekend I will need to start writing my papers and care plans that I have to do to make up for being sick and missing clinical last week. :( Such a long, crappy assignment! I also have a quiz and a midterm, next week, that I need to study for.

Next Friday I will get to keep my 3 nephews overnight! I'm sure the kids will have a great time together, and I'll be happy to get to spend some time with them!

The Friday after that, my younger daughter will be having her birthday party. I'll be taking them ice skating and then back home for a sleepover.

D'oh!

For my Nurse as an Educator class, we have a group project in which we have to teach. The first week of the term, we split up into groups of 4, were given a list of topics to choose from, and chose a topic for our group. My group will be going to an elementary school and teaching a group of 3rd graders, so we chose the topic of internet safety. However, another group also wanted that topic and we ended up having to choose another one.

Finally, after going back and forth between bullying and health and fitness, our teacher persuaded us to go with bullying. This project is a huge portion of our grade for this class, so it is something we are working on all quarter long. To get ahead of the game, my group spent about 5 hours on a Saturday afternoon working on the project; researching, writing papers, etc.

Well, yesterday, we got an email from our teacher informing us that the school we are going to specifically requested that we go over first aid with the class. What?! Are you kidding me? We spent all that time and effort on this project and were feeling good about being ahead of schedule! Now, we have to start all over?!

So, after class today, we got together for a couple of hours and started on our new topic. We still have some papers to write, but at least we got a good start on it (again).

Not again!

Seriously...I *hate* shaving! I haven't cut a nail while shaving in a very long time and now twice in under 2 months? Really? How the heck do I always manage to do these things? Ugh! Very painful! I think I need to just switch to waxing.

Wow...

Today marks 7 years since losing my mom. I still miss her like crazy!

Blahs

I have not felt well at all today. Hoping I feel better in the morning! I have to get up early and do some studying for my quiz tomorrow. It's always a little unsettling to go into the first test from a new instructor and not knowing how they test. We'll see how it goes!

Little girls

To quote Miss Hannigan:

Little girls
Little girls
Everywhere I turn I can see them
Little girls
Little girls...

My younger daughter had a friend stay the night last night and she is still here now. Tonight, since the kids are off school tomorrow, my oldest is having two friends stay the night. So little girls are literally everywhere I turn! At least, for the most part, they are quieter than than when my son has friends over! He had just one friend over on Friday afternoon and you would have thought there were 20 kids here!

Finally the weekend!

This week has seemingly taken forever! But, it's finally Friday and week 2 of the term is over. I had chinese food for dinner and taught my oldest daughter how to play rummy. Now, I think we're going to play some more Just Dance 2 and then I'ma take a nice hot shower and go to bed!

Sicky boy :(

This morning, my son woke up with a fever, headache, and sore throat. Of course he stayed home from school as a result. However, I still had to go to my class so he had to spend a couple of hours at work with his dad. After I got out, I took him to the doctor and turns out it's strep throat. Poor little man!

Then, I came home and shoveled the driveway and sidewalk, put a chicken in to roast, took a shower and folded a bunch of laundry.

I'm not really looking forward to getting up even earlier than the normal crazy-early I have to get up for clinicals tomorrow due to the snow. Sigh. Hopefully I can get some good sleep tonight!

Well, of course!

So, my jeans that I ordered last week finally arrived today. As if I couldn't have guessed, they don't fit. Actually, the waist fits perfectly, however, the butt and legs are too loose. So, I don't know if I want to return them and try the next size down, or a different cut of jeans or what.

Aside from that, my first week of the term is almost done! I just have lab tomorrow from 12-2.

One more day

Friday, I got tired of looking at my roots and decided to buy a box color for my hair. I'd had an appointment to get it cut and colored last week, but after spending around $1300 in car repairs over the last month or so, I was told I couldn't spend that money right now. :/ It turned out well, but hopefully next time I can have it done professionally. It is kind of a pain to color it at home. Besides, it could still use a trim, but I suppose that can wait too, because every time I go to a strip mall hair cutting place, they inevitably mess it up.

Yesterday, the kids and I went to my grandma's to visit with family. We ate, exchanged presents for the kids, and I kicked some butt at Balderdash.

Tomorrow, the kids go back to school and I have one more day of break before starting up another busy term at school. I will need to go get my tags renewed on my van (since they actually expired on my birthday. OOPS!), and my grandma has already said she wants me to go with her to the store and lunch. Hopefully I'll have a little time to relax on my last day "off"!

Shopping

I went shopping today with my oldest daughter. We ate Chipotle for lunch, went to the mall, got some coffee from Starbucks, bought a few things from Bath and Body Works on clearance, and hit several stores where I tried on tons and tons of different jeans. None of which made me happy. I don't know why it is so difficult to find a pair of jeans that look decent on me. :( I ordered a clearance pair online when we got back home (the store didn't have the clearance ones), and hopefully they will fit. If not, I'll return them to the store and check out the Pajama jeans. Those look very interesting.

Aside from, once again, not finding any jeans for myself, it was a pretty good time spend with my girly. That is until she started giving me the silent treatment because I refused to buy her everything she wanted. I told her she could spend her Christmas money and get whatever clothes she wanted. Of course she didn't want to spend her own money, so she had a little fit. Ahh, 13 year old girls!

Sofa King Tired!

Tossing and turning once again. I just cannot fall asleep. Ugh! I just want to sleep!! :( This is ridiculous!

What is wrong with me?

I have not been able to get to sleep the past few nights. It's not that I'm not tired, I just can't seem to turn off my brain or something. I lay there and simply can not fall asleep! It is so frustrating! Even more frustrating is when I get woken up after I finally do fall asleep and then not being able to get back to sleep. hhhhhhhh...

Ouch!

I started having pain in my right jaw again this evening. I experienced this a couple of years ago and went to the dentist who told me it was likely due to me clenching my teeth while I sleep. I noticed it was a little sore when I bit down or opened my jaw, and then within an hour it started to really hurt. Now, it is to the point where I cannot bite down all the way. I can't even force my back teeth together. It is really quite painful. Looks like I will be popping Ibuprofen and surviving on a very soft food and liquid diet for at least a couple of days. I don't remember how long this lasted last time, but I'm hoping feels better soon! :(

Uh oh

I am pretty sure that I left my casserole pans at my dad's house at Thanksgiving. Along with the insulated cover. Now the 40 minute trip to dad's will have to be made while letting the food get cold, or I will have to go over early and make everything there. That kinda stinks because the oven at his house will likely already be full of other things. Oh well, I'll figure something out.

In other news, my father in law got out of the hospital today after having major surgery, as a result of cancer, on the 17th. He had to have a good portion of his colon removed and now has a colostomy bag. This will be permanent, and they are not sure if they were able to remove all of the tumor. Anyway, we got a call this morning from his long time girlfriend with whom he lives, and apparently, she is inept and didn't think she could take care of him his first few days at home, so she wanted to know if he could stay here for a couple of days. Well, this was not exactly what I had planned, but of course we aren't going to say no. So, he will be here until at least Sunday or Monday.

Almost done!

I think I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping. There are just a couple of little things left to get. I spent my entire evening wrapping, and I am still not done. However, I did get a LOT done! Most of what is left is the stocking stuffer things that are a pain to wrap.

I also got all my shopping done today for everything I am making to take to Christmas dinner. It also happens to be what I made for Thanksgiving: sweet potato casserole, corn cake casserole, green bean casserole (I see a pattern forming here...), and homemade cranberry sauce. I also bought stuff to make a pumpkin-y dessert. If I have time, I will make that too.

Tomorrow, I hope to finish up with my wrapping and bake cookies with the kids! Hopefully they will not fight as much tomorrow as they did today! Because I was considering selling one. :/

On the go!

Today, I have to take my oldest for yet another orthodontist appointment. Eventually these will slow down to not be so often. I just had her there last week. At that time, they put in spacers to make room for bands, today, they are putting the bands on her back teeth then, I think, her appointments will slow down to once every 4-6 weeks.

Hopefully some time today, I will have time to at least sort out all of the Christmas presents I got for the kids and see what I still need to get. I still have a few presents to buy for the kids and something for my dad. I also want to make some cookies with the kids and take them to see the lights at the zoo some time this week!

So, it is turning out to be a busy "break" so far! But at least it keeps my mind occupied, and I don't have to sit in lectures!

Finals!

AHHH! Crunch time is here! I have to cram tonight and tomorrow for my finals. I have one tomorrow and one Tuesday and then I'm done til January. Can't wait til Tuesday evening. I'm sure I'll feel much less stressed. At least briefly.

The big 3-1

I am officially another year older. Birthdays get less and less exciting with each year. Ha!

I had my last Ob clinical rotation yesterday and was assigned a laboring patient. I was hoping to get to see her deliver before I left. She hadn't progressed very far halfway through my shift, so my hopes weren't high. However, it was her 4th baby, so I had my fingers crossed. Then, not long before it was time for me to leave, the Doc came in to break her water and she had a prolapsed cord and had to be rushed in for an emergency c-section so, I got to go in and see it. It was wicked exciting from the Doc yelling "Go NOW!" to the nurse riding on the bed with the patient holding the baby's head up as to not crush the cord, to everyone running down the hallway and rushing to scrub and dress for the OR! Yeah, it was pretty sweet.

Then last night, my dad came up and we all went to dinner at Hoggy's. That was delicious. I hadn't been there in quite a while, and that's where we went last year, so that sounded good to me.

My little nephew is doing well and having a good time running around the room with Bella. It's really cute. I am enjoying having him this week, but I can say this for sure...I definitely appreciate that I no longer have diapers to change at my house, and am glad that all of my kids can get their own shoes and coats on and get in the car and buckled in all by themselves. You forget how much extra time all that takes with little ones!

Aww

My little man just saw my new picture on fb and said "ooh, I like your new picture. You look pretty!" Aw! Well, at least one guy thinks so! haha. I stinkin' love that kid so much!

Brrrrr

I am SO not diggin' this frigid weather! Only going to get up to 23 degrees tomorrow! Eeek! Is there anywhere in the world where it is 50-70 degrees all year long? If so, I want to move there.

Ooshoobooboodoodoo, so cute!

Well, the first night with my little nephew went well, though he did not want to sleep in my son's bottom bunk. I had it all set up for him, with the side thing on there to keep him from rolling out and everything. He just did not want to go to sleep!

I ended up laying down with him in my bed to try to get him to go to sleep. He laid there and made me sing the alphabet song and twinkle twinkle little star to him about 100 times each, then I finally said I'd be right back. I walked out and he stayed in my bed for around an hour. When I went back in to move him to the bunk bed, he was wide awake and wanted to go downstairs. He refused to lay in there, so I laid down with him again in my bed and then I fell asleep, so...he stayed with me all night. Hopefully tonight will go better. Not that I mind him being in there, he sleeps much more calmly than any of my kids! I just don't want to make it hard on his mom and dad when they get back as far as getting him to fall asleep in his own bed again.

Oh well, at least he's cute!



Now he is at my grandma's for the afternoon, and I get to go to my clinical tonight (a night early). My instructor, I think, just didn't want to go 2 nights this week, so she's combining Monday and Tuesday groups tonight. Fine with me! I'm done with the psych clinicals after tonight. I'm hoping that she will just give us our final reviews and let us leave early because my oldest daughter has a solo in her choir concert tonight and I don't want to miss it!!

Making a list, checking it twice!

I was able to get some more Christmas shopping done yesterday. I still have some to do, but at least I've made a decent dent in my list!

Right now, I am waiting for my grandma and my 2 and a half year old nephew to come over. My brother and SIL are going on a cruise all this week and my grandma and I are working together to take care of their youngest until next Sunday. My house is totally not toddler proofed, but it should still be fun! Well, minus the whole diaper thing... ;)

Ouch!

I had a shaving accident yesterday. No, not *that* kind of accident, thankfully. However, it is still painful. I caught a fingernail with my razor blade and now 1/3 of that nail is split! Gah!

zzzzz...

I am exhausted. I am so glad I don't have to get up early again tomorrow! Sista needs sleep!

It's like pulling teeth!

My oldest daughter went and got her 6 remaining baby teeth pulled last night. Poor girl was in a lot of pain. However, it very much needed to be done. Her permanent teeth behind them are already showing through the gums. How those teeth hadn't already fallen out on their own is beyond me!

As far as school goes, I have no more tests until finals the week after next! I do have a paper and 2 case studies due next week though. And I'm pretty sure I'll have a care plan to do for clinical by next week as well. Ugh!

I am really not looking forward to getting up crazy early tomorrow. But hopefully I'll get to see something cool in L&D.

Early night

My clinical instructor let us go home early tonight! This is a good thing because I need to study for the psych nursing quiz that I have first thing in the morning. I guess I should probably get started on that now. :/

Just one more week of clinicals and one more week of classes after this week for the quarter. Then I'll have a few weeks off. Yay!

Tis the season

This used to be my favorite time of year. Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas. However, over the past few years I have really started dreading it. Now, I can pretty much say it is my least favorite time of year. :( Hopefully someday that will change again.

Braces

This morning I took my oldest to the Orthodontist, this time not just for a consultation! She got a few brackets put on her top teeth. She has to go back to get spacers put in and her top molar brackets put on. Some time later, after her teeth do some adjusting, she will get the bottom ones put on.

She will also be getting a palate expander because the top of her mouth is too narrow, which has been causing her issues with crowding and ultimately the reason several of her baby teeth have not yet fallen out and the permanent teeth grown in. Which means a trip to the dentist to have 6 baby teeth pulled! Oh joy! She's already complaining about her teeth hurting. Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow should be fun for her. Looks like lots of mashed potatoes in her future! Oh, I remember those days. Not fun!

Here are some pics from her appointment:

Why do I bother?

I have had a headache all afternoon. I tried taking a nap earlier, but as soon as I was about to drift off my son got home from school. Then, I had just gotten back to almost sleep and my younger daughter got home. She, of course, came immediately into my room and wanted me to sign her assignment book (something that is required daily to make sure parents are making sure kids do their homework). I told her that I had a really bad headache and to wait until I got up. This child, however, is not like me in the procrastination department. She wants to make sure she gets all of her things done ASAP, even if that means waking mom up. >:(

So, after finally falling asleep for approximately 5 minutes, my aforementioned daughter comes busting back into my room saying that Bella puked in her crate. UGGHHH! I told her to clean it up and headed back to try to sleep. A couple minutes later, she comes back in saying that she "can't do it". So I told her to leave it and I'd get it when I got up. I just drifted off once again and my alarm went off to go pick up my oldest daughter.

So, I still have my headache and my on and off "nap" only made me feel worse and, quite frankly, kinda cranky!! Hmmph! I think I'ma have to call it a night early tonight.

Well, isn't that just great?!

So, my oldest daughter chipped her front tooth several years ago. The bottom half of that tooth is made up of the same stuff as fillings. It's a temporary fix. Eventually she will have to have it capped. Once that happens, it won't be noticable that it is not her real tooth. However, as of now, until her teeth are fully grown in and braces are done, she will have to deal with the filling.

A couple of years ago, she bit into a sucker, and popped that filling off her tooth and it had to be redone. Tonight, my younger daughter was...wait for it, wait for iiiitt...twirling around a metal baseball bat (seriously? yes.) and hit her sister in the mouth. Well, guess what happened. Yep, it came off again. Sigh.

Blah

Feeling :'(

The hills are alive...

My oldest daughter was in The Sound of Music at school last night and tonight. The kids all did a very good job. Of course, there were a few kids that could have done better :o but for the most part, it went well. Here is a picture of her in costume after the performance tonight:



And a short video my SIL took of her singing with the other nuns:

Untitled from Lora S on Vimeo.

Emails and IM

I am really frustrated with my email/IM situation right now. I am attempting to move all of my emails to 1 main email account and completely ditch my old email address that I've had since 1999. I wanted to switch to something easier to tell people, that does not require a long explanation each time I give out my email, and perhaps looks a little more professional.

Well, this has seemed to cause me more stress than I think it was really worth. The new email does not work the same way with my IM client of choice. Before, my email and chat were all connected. If I signed into IM, I was also signed into my email and could have notifications of new emails pop up if I chose. I could click an icon and immediately get to my inbox. It was all so easy and all in one place.

After switching over, I now have to have two different IM clients open in order to have all of this available to me at the same time. On top of that, when I first signed up with the new email on my old IM, I left out the . in the middle of the email address, thinking it was not that big of a deal. Well, for some reason, even though I received the verification email and verified it, it still kept saying that my email was not verified. Very annoying.

So, I signed up, once again. This time using the dot. I only sent out requests to a couple of my contacts, because I am still trying to decide if I'm going to stick with this, or just go back and use the old email, at least for IM purposes.

Early day

Tomorrow is going to suck! I am on to my L&D clinicals now, and I have to drive 40 minutes, park in a lot across from the hospital, ride a shuttle to the hospital, and meet in the lobby at 6:30 am. So, I guess that puts me leaving the house by around 5:30 am. :( UGH! Hate me some early days!

On a side note, on my way out from dinner at Red Robin with my grandma tonight, she says: "Well, I enjoyed that, but it was a big one". Yeeeah, I had to bite my tongue...

Yuck

So, a friend told me today to try a home remedy for my cough that I've had for the past few days. It's called a hot toddy. It is hot tea, honey, lemon juice and a shot of bourbon whiskey. I am drinking it right now because, at this point, I'm willing to try almost anything. I am so sore whenever I cough! It makes my whole body hurt. I can tell you one thing...this is some nasty crap. I sure hope it helps!

Siiick!

I have been miserable all weekend. I have been coughing crazy hard. My head and chest both hurt every time. I've been chugging cough syrup, but it doesn't really seem to help. I woke myself up coughing several times last night too. :( Ugh,I just want to feel better! On top of that, I already had to go pick up my oldest daughter from school because apparently she was "swallowing puke on the bus" because she "didn't have a bag". Nice.

Hello Weekend!

Well, I finished up my pediatric rotation at Children's Hospital today. Next week, I'll be in labor and delivery. Hopefully I'll get more experience than I did in the LPN L&D rotation. I am so glad this week is over! I am starting my weekend now because the reflection journal paper I thought was due tomorrow for psych nursing is actually not due until next week! Bonus!

Wellll....

It wasn't really what I was hoping for tonight with the adolescent group, though I would say it wasn't anything unexpected. They are definitely a group of troubled kids.

The fun part of working with the kids was that we got gym time. There were only 5 on the unit, and pretty much all but one basically just sat around talking the whole hour instead of playing basketball or kicking a soccer ball around. So, there was an LPN, another student from my school (who is in his 6th quarter and working in the psych hospital with his preceptor), my clinical partner, and myself playing...and one kid. Something was wrong with that picture, but whatever. I only got hit in the face with a basketball once and hit in the stomach with a soccer ball once. :/

The other end...

Well I'm on my way to clinical for the evening. I'll be working on the adolescent unit of the psychiatric hospital tonight. Last week I was on the geriatric unit which was very similar to being at a nursing home. Hopefully seeing the other end of the spectrum will be interesting! We shall see.

Colored for Fall!

Welp, the color is done. It is actually not as dark as I remembered. I thought it was more brown that this, whereas this seems to have more of a red tint. But it is supposedly the same as she used last December. She keeps all that stuff written down. Maybe I just remembered wrong. I looked at pictures from right after having it done last time and it seemed darker in the pics. But, maybe it was the lighting of the pictures, and that is why I thought it was darker. I dunno. It's ok though, I still like it. And my hair smells wicked awesome right now, too. I have got to buy some of the stuff she uses!!

It's time!

I have put it off long enough. It is time to get my hurr did! Last December, I got it colored dark brown and I really liked it. I got highlights sometime last spring, and as of now, it has basically faded back to my natural hair color. So, since it is Fall, I'm thinking it is time to go dark again. So, now, I just need to decide if I want to get a cut too, or just a trim. Hmm, decisions, decisions!

For the lack of something better...

Here are some Bella videos from today. She gets super excited when she sees we're at the dog park...

Untitled from Lora Shearer on Vimeo.

And then she gets her face slobbered by another dog (EW!)...

Untitled from Lora Shearer on Vimeo.

Crazy puppy!

I just got back in from walking Bella. We would have walked longer, but I had to cut it short because she couldn't tell the difference between a small animal and a leaf blowing down the street. This wouldn't normally be a big issue, but tonight, it is particularly windy out and there are about a million leaves blowing around in the wind. She lunged at all of them and almost got away from me several times. She is so freakin' strong!

Week 1 done!

Well, I got through my 2 clinical orientations and my one day of classes. While I only have 2 classes (one is 2 hours, one is 4 hours), it seems like I will still have quite a bit of work to do. There will be more writing assignments this quarter, which is a bummer because I suck at writing papers! A lot of work will be required in these 2 classes. Might not be as "light" of a term as I'd hoped, but at least I have 4 days a week at home to work on it all.

GAH!

Break is over! Back at it tomorrow. It's kind of bittersweet. I don't want to go back to school, however, it means I'm that much closer to being finished. Plus, I get to see my friends.

Also...I cannot seem to keep myself motivated to work out! It is very frustrating. I know I have no one to blame it on but myself. I simply don't have the willpower to make myself stick with it. So, I'll go for a little while and do well and then I just get tired of it and give up. Even though I know that I need to do it to lose weight, to feel better, to look better, to be more confident, to decrease my chances of developing health problems...I still just can't stick to it alone! Yep, I'm pathetic.

So, I guess on that note, I will go downstairs and visit my treadmill. Maybe this will be the time I stick to it? Who knows. What I *do* know is that even off and on is better than none at all. So, I will try to keep it up. I will try to motivate myself. I will try to not let temptation get the best of me. All I can do is try. If I fail, then I will just try again. I think it's time to start using my weight loss blog again. Maybe, just maybe, it can help.

One more week

I can't believe that over half of my break is up already! It has gone by way too fast! At least I'm going into what I hope will be an easier quarter. It will be a lot less time at school, at least. I haven't done a whole lot on break, mostly cleaning or relaxing, or running errands.

I've got some errands to run this morning as well. :( I have to take Bella to the vet because I think she might have pink eye. She woke up Saturday morning with a bunch of green goop in her eye. Yuck. Should be fun trying to hold her still to put drops in her eye! Then, my grandma wants me to drive her to the bank and two stores. I imagine we will get lunch while we're out, and then I *hope* to have the afternoon at home.

Blah!

I woke up with a bit of a headache this morning. I went back to sleep in hopes that it would help, however, it has now turned into a monster headache that is making me feel nauseous. :( Ick!

UGH!

I am seriously about to scream right now! I have not been feeling too great the past few days (physically or emotionally), and tonight I am just feeling really down, and my kids are driving me insane! I think it's time for a nice hot bath and to call it a night!

SO Close!

Just 1 more final and then a break! I have totally been studying what seems like non-stop lately. As a result, I am slacking in other departments like working out and laundry. I haaaate being surrounded by a mess! It stresses me out. It's hard(er) to concentrate on studying (this is one of the things going through my head keeping me from focusing).

I have made it through 2 finals (passed both of those classes) now just have to pass pharm tomorrow. I feel like a huge weight will be lifted off my shoulders as soon as it is over. I am actually looking forward to getting back on my treadmill and having a chance to begin operation clean this pig sty! ;)

Studying, studying, and...oh yeah, more studying!

Well, I managed to make it through the rest of the chapters for A&P (which my final for is tomorrow). Tuesday is my med/surg final, then Wednesday is my pharm final. I think I'm most worried about pharm. Though, my A&P teacher always makes his tests very difficult. Med/surg I am actually doing quite well in. I always think I miss more than I end up actually missing on her tests. Just 3 more days til I get a break!

Now I'm off to study group to get my study on!!

ADD?

I am giving myself a diagnosis of ADD. I cannot seem to pay attention for *anything*! I try to pay attention in my lectures, but I just can't seem to do it. I try to listen, but nothing sinks in. I end up "teaching" the material to myself before the tests. This is why it takes me so long to study for tests. The mixture of my having to teach the stuff to myself and the fact that I cannot stay focused. I will read an entire page and realize I have no idea what I just read because my mind has been on other things and I've been skimming the words, but not actually paying attention enough to comprehend what I just read. Ugh! I just don't get it. I wish this came easy to me. I wish I were one of those people that could just listen in class and not even have to study because merely listening to the lecture was enough.

I spent hours last night and only got through about half of a chapter in one subject. I need to get to it again today. Tomorrow I am going to a study group and hopefully that will help. I always seem to get more out of studying with other people than on my own.

For some reason, I don't have any problems sitting and reading a book, for leisure, for hours! I guess it has to do with how interested I am in the subject at hand. For example, I can read a made up story about vampires and werewolves, or a romance or suspense novel, and become completely enthralled in what I'm reading. But, reading about electrolytes and acid/base buffer systems somehow doesn't hold my interest the same way.

Gotta love wasted trips!

So, yeah, I took Bella back to get her staples removed today. Apparently she had some issues with bleeding and the doctor had to open her back up after the surgery because of it. As a result, her scar is twice as long as it normally would have been. Anyway, when I picked her up the evening of her surgery, they gave me some pain meds for her, some reading material on what I should be looking out for, and a paper stating that I should go back (today) on the 9th for her staple removal.

Well, when I showed up for that, the lady asked me if it had been 10 days. I told her that her surgery had been last Thursday. So, she then told me that they generally need to be in for at least 10 days and after checking with the doctor, tells me to bring her back in next Thursday to have them taken out. Oh well, at least it wasn't that far of a drive and Bella got to go for a ride, so that made her happy.

So much for my morning off!

I got up this morning and drove my middle daughter to school since everyone somehow overslept this morning, I have a homework assignment that is due this afternoon that I completely forgot about and haven't even started on (oops!), I still have to study for today's quiz, I need to take Bella to get her staples removed from her spay, and I also have some paperwork to fill out for school.

That last thing kind of pisses me off. I got an email from my financial aid director saying that she needs these things filled out and turned in immediately because they are holding up my financial aid for next quarter. It's just this lady's tone that gets me. She is such a beyotch in person and in her emails. I am in my 3rd quarter of the RN program and all of a sudden you need these forms filled out immediately because it's holding up my financial aid? So...what you're telling me is *you* lost something that I have previously filled out and you have had for previous quarters as needed, and now it is somehow *my* fault that this is being held up? Hmmm...

So, I guess I better get to it. Sigh.

Can we just call it a night?

Well, one quiz down, 2 more to go this week. Then, next week is finals! So, it's pretty much straight up studying this week (and weekend) and next week. Seriously, I can't wait to have a couple of weeks that I don't have to spend all of my time studying! Especially since I can't seem to get a moment's peace to study without one kid or another coming and knocking on my door!

I am something of a mess today. For some reason my left eye started burning this afternoon. Most likely from my contact. It is probably time to change them out. Even after taking it out when I got home, it still hurts and is watering. Prolly gonna be rockin' the glasses for a couple of days. On top of that, my stomach has been killing me all afternoon. My lunch must not have liked me as much as I liked it. :(

To leave or not to leave?

I really don't feel like being at school today. I'm really thinking about just leaving after this class. Hmmm....

Poor baby!

My poor little puppy got spayed today. They said she bled quite a bit. She has basically done nothing but sleep since getting home this evening. She didn't even want to drink any water. :(

Last day of Summer break

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the kiddos! I know they are excited and sad at the same time. I know how they feel. In a way I'm glad for them to be back in school, and yet, I feel bad for them too. It does seem like the summer flew by for them and they didn't really get to do too much. No vacations, amusement park or water park trips, etc. Oh well. Hopefully next summer. It's difficult to do those things when I don't get the summer off of school too.

This year they will all be in different schools, too. Which is fine for the girls. I just hope my son does ok knowing his sister isn't in the same building as him this year. I know that was somewhat comforting to him last year. The younger two will, however, be riding the same bus to and from their schools. So, hopefully that will help.

I've got to move it, move it!

Well, I finally got my treadmill set up and I used it for the first time today! It felt good, too! I just need to figure out how to use the settings. I didn't take the time to read the manual before hand, I just went for it. And I don't know how to make it just go at the settings I put in. It kept changing speeds and inclines on me, which was not cool! Oh well.

I didn't do anything drastic today, since unfortunately, it's been a while since I've worked out. I just went back and forth between a medium-paced walk and a slight jog for about 25 minutes. But, at least it was something!

No joke!

Well, my teacher wasn't lying. That test was very difficult! :( He usually throws a few questions out when most of the class misses them. I'm hoping most of the class missed a lot! :o I seriously spent at least 4 solid hours studying for this test last night and I still wasn't sure of a lot of the answers. Sigh.

Anyway, now I am home and ready to relax a bit. I just found out that the pool we go to has been reopened! So, the kids and I will definitely be spending some time there this weekend!

Ready for the weekend!

I so, completely do not want to study tonight! I have an exam in A&P tomorrow that the instructor says will be really difficult. Great. But, since that is my last class of the day tomorrow, perhaps I will get to leave a little early! Hopefully, if the weather is nice this weekend, I can get in some more pool time too!

HECK YEAH!!

Water thief!

So, I just go and get myself a big cup of ice water, bring it back upstairs with me and set it on my bedside table. I then go into the bathroom for all of 30 seconds before I hear the lapping. Why does Bella always think that she can drink my water *every* time I set down my cup? hhhhhh. Silly puppy!

Of course now that I've replaced said cup and water she's come back to try to steal more!

My day

Had a long day of appointments and shopping today with my kiddos. My oldest got new glasses, all 3 got new shoes, and we got a few things from Bath and Body Works too! Now I need to take back a dvd that I forgot in my laptop when I went to the library yesterday (apparently it doesn't count if you just return the case :/), make dinner, then force myself to study for my upcoming tests!! Blah!

Pool Time!

I am getting ready to take my kiddies to the pool. We haven't been in a few weeks because the pool we've been going to has been closed. Apparently some people jumped the fence and there ended up being broken glass in the pool, which lead to it needing to be drained, worked on, then refilled. So, it has been out of order for at least 3 weeks now. So, if that pool is not yet reopened, we will go to the community pool. In fact, we may just go there either way. We haven't been yet this summer, and I know my kids really want to go on the slides. Besides, I've pretty much lost all of my tan already. :/ So, it's pool time!

Phew!

Took my med/surg midterm today and totally thought I bombed it. It was way more difficult than her quizzes have been. However, I ended up with a B, so I'm happy with that! I am glad it is finally Friday so I can have a couple of days of not spending all of my time at home studying! But, of course, next week will be back to the same old routine again and I'll be studying for a pharm quiz, a math test for pharm, and an A & P exam.

On the bright side, I am over half way through this quarter! Five more weeks until I'll get a couple of weeks off (and my kids will be in school all day by then)! After that, I only have 3 more quarters and I will be done with school for a bit.

I'm actually looking forward to next quarter. It will hopefully be much less stressful. I will only have 2 classes: maternal nursing and psych nursing. Each of which has clinicals attached, so I will have 2 half days/week of clinicals instead of one long day (one day for psych, the other day split between pediatrics and maternal nursing). So, basically one full day of classes, two half days of clinicals and 4 days off every week! I can deal with that!

hhhhhhh...

Why is it that the things you try the hardest to put out of your mind are always the very things you can't stop thinking about? :(

I wanna go home!

I have got a wicked headache right now! Sitting in a small, closed-off classroom with twenty-plus other people and the thermostat set in the high seventies, listening to a boring ass monotone lecture is not helping! Can't wait to get home where my house is a comfortable 68 degrees! :)

On another note, I am SO close to being completely done with back to school shopping! I think all that is left is shoes.

More shopping!

Did some more school supply shopping with the kiddos today. Man, this gets so expensive! I did find some good deals though, including a buy one backpack get one for a dollar at Meijer! Woot! Now if I could find a deal like that on shoes for them, I'd be good. :)

Sick & Stressed

I had my little man to the doctor's this morning because he has been running a fever and has been complaining of headaches and a sore throat for a couple of days and was vomiting last night. Come to find out, he has a sinus infection. Poor little guy. He is taking his second nap of the day right now, and usually he doesn't nap at all anymore, so I know he feels crappy. :(

On top of that, I am not feeling well either. I can't breathe very well out of my nose (even though I have nothing to blow out of it), my head hurts, my throat hurts, and my stomach is upset. I'm just a hot mess!

I have been attempting to study for my pharm midterm that I have on Wednesday but, I am not sure how much is sinking in. I just feel so icky right now it is hard to concentrate. I also have a lab practical on Thursday and a med/surg quiz on Friday that I need to study for. Then, next week are 2 other midterms (and possibly another quiz in pharm). And let's not forget 12 hours of clinicals tomorrow! All kinds of fun to look forward to...