Day 191: March 6, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals."

Yesterday was a pretty boring day, altogether. HOWEVER, I did have my 3rd interview, and it was the highlight of my day. I really enjoyed it a lot, and the ladies who interviewed me were especially nice. They had a lot of good questions to ask, and although the questions were really tough I thought I did really well. Or, at least, I HOPE I did really well, because I really want the job pretty badly.  So I've started praying that all will go well, and we'll see. They said they had a couple more people to interview in the next week, and we should know something within the next two. So..... we'll see! Here's hoping!

The kid has been pretty rowdy today. To be honest, he is being a LOT like his dad.  You know, wrestling around, being loud and obnoxious. Things like that.  He has his friend Nathan and his other friend Calvin over tonight, and they are driving me nuts.  They were outside playing basketball for a little while, but they were being really loud out there, and since it's ten I figured I'd better bring them in. However, they are really wired, and I'm wondering if they will EVER go to sleep. As in, EVER. But I'm tired, so I'm going to have to try hard to get some sleep, while I'm sitting here worried about whether they're all going to try to sneak out or not. UGH!!!  I know, it's part of childhood to want to try to test those limits and all, but I'd really prefer they chose some other night to do it... like when Ron's home and can put the proper fear in them.

Other than that, pretty much all I did today was go hang out at Sherrie's and help her and Michael out with cleaning out the garage. I was going to stay a lot longer but Calvin's mother wanted to meet me, and we sat and chatted for a long time. They just moved here about two months ago, so they are still just getting used to the place.  They seem to like it alright, but they haven't really been anywhere yet. She agrees, though, that there should be more here for the kids to do. Her husband is Army, and is due to come back around the same time that Ron does.  Which, by the way, I am TOTALLY EXCITED ABOUT!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS!!!

Day 189: March 4th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I'd still swim. And I'd despise the one who gave up." -Abraham Maslow


I'm having a really, really bad "feel sorry" kind of day. There's this cat that has been seen hanging around our place lately, but I haven't really got a good look at him. Today, though, I came home from picking up Cody and he was in front of my car when we got out. And he is in really, really bad shape.  He has a big wound healing on the side of his head, and his left front leg is EXTREMELY swollen. Cody said that the kids down the street told him someone hit the cat with a shovel. A SHOVEL!!!!! Not sure about the leg, though, maybe hit by a car? Either way, it brings out that mothering instinct in me that makes me want to take him in and heal him. Poor little mistreated guy!!! I have no idea what to do about it, whether to just leave it alone or call animal control. I DEFINITELY can't afford yet another vet bill... the animals we OWN are already costing us an arm and a leg.  We did try to feed the cat, but he wouldn't eat what we put out there for him. We left it out for him, so we'll see.

All I can say about today's clinicals are that I am glad they are over with. The morning was good because I was feeling just fine. Then this afternoon, I started getting that fuzzy-headed achy feeling, and it really dragged me down.  There wasn't a lot going on, and with me not feeling good it was difficult to make it through the afternoon.  I have no idea what is wrong with me, but I"m running a low-grade fever and just feel generally bad. Which figures, of course, because I have my 3rd interview tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully, my last interview, either way.  I think if it doesn't pan out I'm going to try and apply at Sheppard. At least then it'll be something I'm familiar with, having been a military family for the last 15 years.  And it's closer to home, as well. That would be a bonus.  But I'm getting ahead of myself... one position at a time, thank you very much.  I'm still really hoping for postpartum, it's what I have my heart set on. And I can't help but really, really want it!

Day 188: March 3rd, 2010

Quote of the Day:  "The most valuable thing I have learned from life is to regret nothing." - Somerset Maugham

Cody's final track tryouts were today. He got selected to do the 110 yard hurdles.  He says it was on account of the fact that he can jump the highest out of the rest of the people and still do a "hurdle". I just told him that it's because he's got those monstrously long Nason legs, just like his daddy! LOL He's pretty excited about it, though.  Their first meet is this Friday night, in Vernon.  They'll be taking the bus there from the school. Not sure what time they'll be back, but we'll see. Good luck to him!

Damien spent all evening on the computer applying for jobs here and there.  He applied for several jobs with the city of Wichita Falls, plus a couple of other, and also has another application to fill out and fax in to apply to work at the base library and a couple of leads to go apply at that he will have to actually physically go to. Let's hope that SOMETHING pans out for the poor kid... I looked all over the net, and although there used to be at least a hundred different jobs listed on Monster, yahoo jobs, and careerbuilder in the Wichita Falls area, the ones on there now are all those scam jobs. You know the ones...."Make 90K working from home..." type jobs.  BAH! Who needs it?

As for me, I have my third interview at the hospital on Friday afternoon, and am really looking forward to it.  I really hope that it goes well.  Tiffany said the fact that I am getting a peer interview means I have a real good chance of getting hired, so we'll see.  I'm still nervous as heck and have my doubts, but we'll see.  I've been praying REALLY, REALLY HARD that I get it, so if God wants it to be, then it will.  And then, if I do get it, I'll have to spend a lot of time praying that I can learn fast and be AWESOME at it. I know I have the potential to be a GREAT nurse, and I just need a chance to do it. 

Tomorrow I have hospital clinicals again, on the Labor & Delivery floor. Another one I am greatly looking forward to! I have to say, I really, absolutely am LOVING my clinicals this semester! It's been a really great one so far. Not one single day that I haven't liked!  And on top of that, I really feel like I'm doing good on retaining the information I need for classes. We'll see... I have to come home tomorrow night and register for the NCLEX exam, so that they have time to do everything they need to do in order to give me a date to take it. Can't WAIT to get that over with and become a REAL R.N.!

Day 187: March 2nd, 2010

Quote of the Day: "We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls." --Winston Churchill

I got some really great, really exciting news today! On Friday I had to go to Vernon for a test-taking skills class, which they use to teach us how to take the HESI test, which is coming up. You know, the test which we have to pass in order to graduate? We had a "mock" HESI test on Friday, which was supposed to give us an idea of what we need to study in order to pass the HESI. They posted the grades today, and guess what??? I GOT THE HIGHEST GRADE! Well, one other person scored the same as me, but whoever that was, we got the highest grade. Do you want to know what's really sad? I got a 79 on it. The majority of the class scored between 61 and 70 on it. I guess that means that I have an okay chance of passing the HESI! I still have a lot of studying to do, but it kind of takes some of the pressure off me. WHEW!!!!

My job interview went well today, so I'm thankful for that. The problem is, I have to go to ANOTHER interview on Friday, the peer interview. The one where other nurses from the floor sit down and interview me to make sure that I would be a good "match" for them. I am sooooooo nervous!!! This will be the third interview.... I am running out of ideas for "interview clothes". To be honest, it's completely stressing me out because I want it so badly.  I have no idea what time my interview will be, because she is supposed to call me with a time once she gets everything settled. But we'll see. I told her anytime at all on Friday is fine with me because I don't have class on that day. I will be ready whenever! I feel like I can take on the WORLD today and not even blink!

Other than that, I received a call from Eva, the secretary of the Nursing Program at Vernon College, to let me know that my current TB test is about to expire and I need a new one. So I drove down to the Health Department and got the TB innoculation. Now I just have to get it read, which I will do on Friday either before or after my interview. It'll be the last one I'll be required to get for the school, but I'll still have to get them for work. Plus, my CPR certification is up in August, so I'll have to go to CPR class... again. Sigh. That's okay, though, it'd be a good refresher to have. Who knows, they may have changed the rules again.

After going and getting the TB thing done I drove by WalMart and picked up some dress shoes, pants, dress shirts, ties, socks and underwear for Damien, so that he will have something to wear for job interviews. At least now I know he's got something to wear... that eases my mind a little bit, mostly because it's all appropriate. Now he just needs his eyebrows to grow back! HAHAHA Oh, yeah.... I forgot to blog about that one! He was using his shaver the other day to trim around his eyebrows and had a hand spasm... cutting off part of one eyebrow. So he figured that if he was going to look funny he may as well look UNIFORMLY funny.... and shaved the rest off. WOW, what a goof! Just in case you're having a hard time getting a mental picture.... here's a real one for you. This is with a couple of days' worth of growing them back, but you'll get the idea.

I had a funny memory come to me today.... Ron, do you remember when I was pulling the boat out of the lake the last time we went? When I got it halfway up the ramp.... and you yelled "STOP" because you wanted the boat to have time to draing, and I thought you meant that something was wrong, so I stopped? Quickly? Throwing Mike off balance into you, and you went crashing down too, like you guys were human bowling pins? I didn't mean to do that, by the way, but it sure as hell was funny! I had a good laugh about it today. The only reason it even popped into my head was that it's getting warmer, and you're coming back, and I passed a truck pulling a boat today and it made me think of how we're going to be able to go out in the boat SOON!!!  YAY!!!! Oh, and.... sorry for laughing at ya. But, ya know... it WAS funny. Typical of me, too.... remember when you had the cover off the boat motor, trying to fix it? You were yelling "Slow" and I thought you were yelling "Go" because I couldn't hear over the sound of the motor? And I almost dumped you in the lake when I floored it? HAHAHAHAH Good times! Sometimes it's FUN being a blond.  : )

Day 186: March 1st, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Love does not consist of gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Wow, today has really been something.  I got up to get ready for clinicals, took my shower, and then was going to go out and turn on my coffee, and smelled electrical fire.  I almost panicked, until I realized that I only smelled it real strong right next to the water heater closet. Uh-oh... so I opened the door up, and wouldn't you know it.... the water heater in the house has shorted out in the same exact place the one up in the attic did!  Which makes sense, because they are the same exact size and model, but DANGIT! Can't we get a break for once? Geez! This is like, what, the hundredth thing that has gone wrong since Ron left? And he's coming back in roughly two weeks, couldn't it have waited? Why do I get to have all the fun by myself?

My clinicals went pretty well today at the state hospital. We were surrounded with some pretty rough characters, and although I can't say too much about it on here, I can say that it was interesting on some pretty intense levels. My other two girls in my group and I all had a pretty good time watching all the various behaviors, and avoiding some dangerous situations as well as we could.  We saw how the staff interact with the patients, the measures used to try to defuse violent situations, and a whole lot of other things. It was definitely the most violent rotation yet, but we all made it out okay without having any black eyes or anything like that, so it was a good day.  They have classes there throughout the day, and one of them which we all liked was music class. A couple of the staff play the drums/guitars, and they have this sound system set up where the patients can sing into the microphones. Pretty therapeutic, I guess. I sang one song solo, and then I finally talked Laurie and Misty into singing with me, and we had a pretty good time. At times like that it's hard to remember you're in a building with people who have committed murder and other crimes, and been found guilty by reason of insanity.  And most of the time, they seem like regular people just like the rest of us.  Which is really the problem, because you leave there with this unsettling feeling that everyone you pass on the street has the potential to be a patient there. It's pretty creepy when you think about it like that. Thank God for the common sense and instinct that helps us to avoid the really messed-up people.

It's bedtime now, because I have my job interview in the morning. And I guess once I'm done with that I will have to call in a repair order for the stupid water heater. I am NOT looking forward to that! Come to think of it, I'll have no hot water in the morning to shower for my interview. Unless I go shower in Damien's bathroom, with the creepy crawlies... UGH! Man, I hope they can get this thing fixed pretty quick! LOL Otherwise, I'll have to resort to heating the water on the stove and taking tub baths. Which I hate. I don't think there's anything left in the house that can break, at least. There's a blessing for you!

Day 185: February 28, 2010

Quote of the Day: "People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest." -George Matthew Allen

I found out a downside to the countertops: It's called children. Okay, well... maybe not children, maybe just one child with a habit of being sloppy when pouring Kool-Aid and fruit punch, then not wiping up his messes. I have found that I now have little red spots on the countertop from said child pouring his drinks. And I tried bleaching them, and guess what? No luck! They're permanent!!! I could choke him! UGH! The only reason that he is still alive and breathing is that they are small little stains... I can just imagine how bad it COULD have been. But I got onto him about them and explained to him that from now on he'd better watch it when he's pouring things, and most especially that he'd better clean things up immediately if he gets something on the counter. I guess it's just that he's at that completely selfish and self-centered age, but it makes me really want to throttle him sometimes. I can't remember if I was ever like that, but I'm sure I probably was.

It took very little time to clean the kitchen today - probably because it's been staying pretty clean. My dressing room, however... what a nightmare! That stupid cat is the worst cat on the face of the planet. He throws litter everywhere, he steps in poop then wipes it on the floor-length mirror when doing the "trying to cover it up" thing. He ends up getting food all over the place.   And let's face it, folks... he really stinks! I have to change the litterbox in that room every single day, with only HIM using it. And I've never seen a cat pee so much in my life! I don't know how much more of it I can stand. I'm going to put the litter box back into its wicker basket in the hopes that it will maybe help him to not lean his butt over the edge of the box while standing in it and peeing/pooping outside of it, and maybe to convince him NOT to try and swipe the walls when he's done going.  It won't do anything about the litter strewn all over the floor, I don't think.
But I do have to say that if he doesn't straighten up he is out of here, because the whole point in having cats is that they are clean animals. Usually. And I don't want to spend every day after work scrubbing walls and floors, like I have been doing. So he'd better start working on his cleanliness skills!  I'll give him until Ron comes home, and no more, because I've been dealing with this for the last two months, and I've gone through a gallon of Windex on that mirror... literally speaking. And it's just GROSS!!!!!

Also, I want to mention that a very dear friend of mine lost a very close, very important person in her life today, and I would like to ask each of you to please pray for her and her family to make it through the coming days/weeks/months/years with the knowledge that they can remember the good things with fervor, and also that she and her family can feel at peace. It's so hard when you lose someone you love, but even more so when it is an unexpected loss that brings reality crashing in on you.  I wish there was a good explanation for why some people are taken from us at such a young age, while others live on until their 90s or hundreds.  There just isn't a reason, or a formula, that can make us understand how it all works. I guess because if there was a pattern, man would be spending all sorts of time trying to find ways to beat it.  The important thing is that, Laurie, I am praying for you and your family. God bless you, and I love you. Keep faith, and may strength flow through you while you deal with the coming times. You are not alone, and we will make sure that you know it.

Day 184:February 27th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

What a great day! It was so spring-like outside that I just could not resist, so I threw on a tank top and went out back and got to work. I spent all day long outside enjoying the sun! I cleaned the pool, cleaned up the dog mess, helped Cody mow the grass, trimmed the salvia bushes, trimmed the rose bushes, and put my clematis into the ground. Hopefully it will grow a lot bigger this year.  The only problem I had all day long is.. yep, you guessed it... the first sunburn of the year. OW!!!! Forgot how painful those are! But the yard looks so much better that I really think it was worth it.  I loved the smell of the salvia as I was cutting it, so I probably took a little longer than I had to. Yet, I had to make it perfect, right?

After I was done in the yard I came in with Cody and I watched two movies with him before I decided that it was time to head to bed. I really was wiped out from all that sun. And I still have more to do out there, like clean the patio, sweep up some of the grass Cody missed, sweep the breezeway.... Sigh.  Hope we have good weather again! But this time I'll be wearing a t-shirt. Got to keep that sunburn under control... if it gets any worse, I'll look ridiculous for my job interview, and I DEFINITELY don't want that.  So I'll be a good girl and wear sunblock if I go outside again. Which is almost a guarantee, if the weather stays nice.  Supposedly it'll be a high near 60, so I'm hoping so.  If not, I have plenty of cleaning to do inside the house. I still have to steam clean the carpets sometime, but figured I'd wait until I got most of the outside stuff done. You know, just in case I get into mud (very common for me to do, and my young one is even MORE likely to come in looking like pigpen).

Other than that, not a lot going on around here. I sat down at the computer and did some brainstorming for a new book idea to pass the time, but mostly our tray tables are locked and we've begun our descent to Togetherness. We're looking out the windows and enjoying the scenery, but we are so excited to finally get there that it's hardly much of a distraction. Only a couple weeks to go and we'll get our lives back! I don't think I can get much more excited than this, really. Well, yes I can, but hopefully not until around the day before he gets home. I don't think I can handle it otherwise!  But I'm ready and waiting. Bring on the Ron!!!