It's Been Awhile

I have never thought of myself as too dramatic, but I will openly admit that I do worry a little too much.  My mother tells me that I love to complain.  I won't argue that point either.  Over the past few months I have had enough things occur in my life that it feels a little too dramatic for my taste.  All of the drama has been so tiring that I just haven't blogged.  I would love to give a little update though.  Who knows how long it might be until I blog again.

I am currently at the end of my semester in my doctorate.  I was not sure if I was going to make it through, but I am thinking it is likely I will pass.  I had to do 200 clinical hours at one of the local children's hospitals.  It has been great to be doing patient care with kids again.  I really do love it!  Plus, it doesn't hurt that I run into many people that I know...and that they like me and love to talk to me.  I love to feel like I am a competent care provider.  I have really enjoyed it.  In fact, the emergency department was trying to attempt to get me to apply for a job.  Although, I think that I should continue teaching until I finish my degree.

I have been teaching.  I love the classroom part, but don't really love doing the clinical portion.  I don't really have a choice at this point.  It is a lot of fun to see the students that I have taught graduate, pass their nursing boards, and get jobs.  I feel like I make a difference.

Harley and Duke keep me busy.  Harley has picked up some bad habits as I have been gone too much.  He has started pooping in my basement, which luckily is cement.  Duke is busy rearranging and destroying bits of my house.  I am taking him to the "Doggy Psychiatrist."  It is actually a behavioralist veterinarian, who is going to help me to get a handle on his crazy behavior.  He is so sweet when I am home that I think that getting his behavior under control would be great!  Overall, life is good!
 

Cheap

DID I TELL YOU THAT I LOVE THAT MY DEGREE COSTS ABOUT

$2-3, 000 A SEMESTER?

No debt this semester.-$2,300.

I love going to a cheap school.

School starts Monday!

Graduation and Interview

I finally graduated, to find out details you can got to Ann's blog because I have not had time to even think about blogging. I just thought that I would let everyone know.

I leave tomorrow for my big interview in Minneapolis, MN. I hope that it goes well. I will keep you all posted.

Clinicals Completed

I finished all of my hours of clinicals for school last Thursday, which was a huge relief. Now I am supposed to be working on my paper that I need to turn in to be published. Instead, I have picked up a bunch of hours at work. Anything to get out of homework! Well, actually, I need to pay for the MRI I had on my knee and the surgery I am having next week. I would also like to attend my graduation. I figure that maybe I will finish the paper the week that I am layed-up after the surgery. Otherwise, things are going well. Many of the jobs that I applied for want to talk to me after I have taken my boards.

Birthday

This past week has been pretty darn good. I was really sad when I realized a few weeks ago that I was going to have to work the entire weekend of my birthday. In the past I have always gone home to celebrate, even when I lived in Salt Lake City. Being the poor student that I am I realized that I was not going to be able to go home and it was even more sad that I was going to spend it working. This thought led me to call up my cousin, Megan, and let her know that I was coming over for an entire weekend of birthday celebration. I did not even give her the option of saying "No." I let her know that I needed some ice cream and cake and that I would be set.
I went to her house on Friday and I babysat her three youngest kids for the first half of the day while she ran errands. We had a great time at the park. I had worked the entire night before so when she arrived home I took a nap with Hazel, the youngest. When I woke up we had dinner and a great birthday celebration...cake and all. Then we went to the dollar theatre and watched "Night and the Museum." It was a perfect day.
Saturday was just as great. I spent the majority of the day cleaning out the old master bathroom. Megan and Kenneth have been completely remodeling their home and moved into the new master bedroom. The old room is going to be the girls' bedroom and the bathroom was filled with all kind of stuff that needed to go into the new bathroom. Everything was removed, scrubbed down and organized so that girls could now occupy the bathroom. When I was done it was sparkling clean. The next plan was to go swimming, it was extremely hot, but then it started to rain. The large group of us moved on the the next plan and went to Chuck E. Cheese. Who wouldn't have fun there? All seven children and three adults ate pizza and ran around playing games. Everyone had a good time. Unfortunately by the end of the day there were two children who were sick and throwing up, but overall it was a good day.
The next day was Sunday and we went to church. After church we had quiet time for 20 minutes, no one survived. Everyone slept for 2 hours until the phone rang. Then we had some great Chinese soup. We played Hullabaloo and ran around like crazy people in the front room and headed back to bed. I was really worn out. That was when sickness took child number three. Luckily the illness was one that only seemed to last about 12 hours so the other two were feeling good by then.
Monday I watched the youngest three as child number four become ill. We read stories and played in the house. Megan and I moved a very large bookcase from the master bedroom to the front room. There were a whole lot of books that required moving. I attempted another nap in preparation for work that night. I didn't get any sleep because my brain would not turn off, so I spent the afternoon talking with Megan and Nate, the second to youngest. I helped to prepare dinner and then headed to work. It was a great weekend and it was really nice to hang out with people. Sometimes I get lonely here by myself in my apartment.
I am still sad that I have to work on my birthday, but I think that it will be manageable. Sometimes I really hate being an adult. I will be celebrating in style though as there will be a potluck for Cinco de Mayo.
I finished my classes for the semester and I am happy to announce that I have passed all of them. Yeah! I have completed two semester and only have four to go. They go by quickly so it won't we too long until I am finished. During this short break I am going to attempt to pick up as many shifts at work as possible. I have signed up for a lot of extra shifts and have a feeling that I am going to be cancelled for most of them, but this way I will have the greatest chance of making more money. If I don't get cancelled though I will be working a whole lot. It is a good investment to improve my financial situation.