Day 107: December 12, 2009

Quote of the Day:

"It is sad and wrong to be so dependent for the life of my life on any human being as I am on you; but I cannot by any force of logic cure myself at this date, when it has become second nature."

-Jane Welsh Carlyle

All day long has been very quiet, and peaceful.  I had to go to Lowe's and pick up a new cord for the water heater, so tomorrow looks like THE day for that. Let's just hope that I get everything switched out right and don't end up burning the house down, huh?  HAHAHA  Nah, if it looks too bad I'll just call someone else in and let THEM do the dirty work. Right?

Cody ended up coming home last night after all, so it turns out my 'quiet evening' wasn't really so quiet.  He was all set to spend the night at his friend Nathan's, but there was a Christmas concert at one of the local churches he wanted to go to.  His friend Nathan couldn't go, though, so Cody decided that he'd go to the concert and then come home afterwards. Did he call me and let me know that, though? NO. Not until I was just all nice and cozy in my bed and just about asleep.  Then he calls and asks me to come pick him up.  Needless to say I was not happy about it, but I went out and picked him up anyways.  He went to Nathan's tonight, instead.

For the last couple of days I have been taking care of our friends Mike and Tiffany's little puppies while they were down in Dallas, and let me tell you... those little guys sure are rowdy!  It seems they figured that the perfect time to learn to be little Houdini dogs and learn to escape the kitchen was when I was watching them, so I kept walking in the house to find puppies everywhere but where they were supposed to be.  It's so cute to see them growling and barking! It's only been a couple of weeks since they were born, and already they are wild and crazy.  They kept attacking my shoelaces every time I went over there! It was hilarious! I took Cody with me today, too. At first he was all excited about it, but then he saw what a mess puppies can make come out of their bodies and he wasn't so keen on getting one after that. Thank heaven, because Ron would have his butt in a sling for years if he brings home another animal!

Most of today I spent working on Ron's surprise, which is going to be a much harder task than I counted on.  But that's okay, it will keep me plenty busy, for sure. And with the way my current part of it is turning out, I am EXTREMELY SURE that he is going to LOVE it.  I can't wait until I get it finished and he comes home and sees it.  I honestly just turns out to be as great as it seems to be in my mind.  Sometimes things just don't measure up when they are made a reality.  This had better not be one of those times, that's all I can say.  If it is, I may have to stop trying to be all creative, and we know how much I would hate that!  Maybe I'm aspiring too big, though... I've got to sit down with pen and paper and run some figures. See where we're sitting after all this "imagining" adds up.  It may be totally out of my reach to even consider the whole entire project I'm planning.  Not to mention, just me with no help may make it harder, too. We'll see what I can come up with.

I had to laugh today... I talked to Ron for a little while and he was having one of his "grumpy" days, where almost everything makes him angry and edgy. I really miss him being around in that mood, because he's not only extremely fun to pick on when he's like that, he also makes for an interesting day.  Sometimes he can be soooo serious!  If he was here and acting like that, I'd probably be throwing things at him (playfully, not in anger).  Or sometimes, if it puts me in a bad mood I'll yell a little and then storm away from wherever he's at and avoid him altogether.  But the best times are when he ends up happy again.  THAT is what I miss.  Well, that, and the occasional argument. It's no fun not having anyone to argue with and take out my frustrations on.

Tomorrow, I have to do some laundry and get some things done around the house.  I haven't really managed to do much from my list of things which I have planned to finish during this break from school, so it's time to kick it into high gear. It's already been a week since finals, and the only big thing I have to show for it is that I got the Christmas lights up outside. Wow... isn't that impressive? At that rate, I may be able to cross of three things on the list before school starts back up again! UGH!  Oh, well... I'm sure that whatever the important things are, they will get done.  The rest is just icing on the cake.

Day 106: December 11, 2009

Quote of the Day: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

Today has been relatively, blessedly slow. I hit up the gym first thing this morning with Sherrie for our workout, then we went to Hancock Fabrics for her to look for a zipper, and also to Hobby Lobby. I've been having a little bit of difficulty figuring out exactly what I need for Ron's surprise, but I picked up a couple things today, nothing big, and have been working on it for the last couple hours. Let me just say, my fingers are KILLING me!!!!! UGH! This getting older stuff just isn't what it's cracked up to be.

I got in the cover for the water heater, but forgot to take the cord with me to Lowe's to find another one, so I wasn't sure what prongs ours had. They don't sell just a "water heater power cord" like they do for dryers and ranges.  I got to thinking on the way home that I should just ask Ron what he thinks about me just shortening the cord we already have, since the very end is all that's melted in any way, but he was not able to get online so I could not ask him. That really stinks, too... I don't like being without talking to him for even a short amount of time. It makes my days just drag along soooo slowly!

It hasn't been a very productive day at all today, because all day I've had this headache that won't go away. Not to mention the fact that it makes me very sleepy. It's a sinus headache, with an added ache in the back of my skull where it meets my spine.  And here I thought I was over all those tension headaches! HA! I'll be going to bed early tonight, to see if I can get rid of this thing. I should sleep really well, as Damien lit out of here around 5 to go spend the weekend with his buddies, and Cody called a little bit ago and asked if he could stay the night with Nathan. So...... it will be super quiet in the house all night long, and I don't have to worry about doors getting left open and letting the house get down into the fifties again.  It's happened three times now! I'm about to tear out all that weatherstripping Ron put on the doors, because they aren't helping with the electric bills anyways if the stupid doors won't shut. They've gotten so bad now that I have to pull on them with ALL my weight just to hear them click shut. I think the door jambs have shifted or swollen or something. Not sure, but I sure am tired of heating the neighborhood!

Day 105: December 10th, 2009

Quote of the Day:

"I have not yet met with a sorrow that could not be borne, nor with one who's passing did not leave me stronger." -Kathryn L. Nelson, Pemberley Manor, 2006

I made acorn squash tonight with dinner, a first for me.  It actually turned out pretty good, which of course means that the kids did not like it. But they ate it anyways, and it went really good with the pork roast, carrots, and cabbage. Not too bad. Although I think next time I will try cooking the carrots and cabbage separately from the roast.  That way they'll retain a lot of their own flavors.

Today's been a pretty good day.  Picked up the remaining Christmas lights mess and put everything back into the attic until it's time to take everything down next year.  It's amazing how clean the house looks now, even though I have not cleaned yet. I can't believe how much of a mess the place looked with all that stuff sitting around. Never really noticed that it was just the Christmas stuff that was making everything messy.  I have big plans tomorrow to workout with Sherrie and get some of the things I'll need to deal with working on the first step of Ron's surprise.  All in all, I think I will be pretty busy tomorrow.

I called the people at Whirlpool back today because they did send the control board to fix the water heater but they did not include the plastic housing that it is supposed to sit in.  I tried for an hour to talk to whatever random person in India I reached that could barely speak English, then got irate.  I pulled up their website and found a different number for them.  When I got ahold of a person she said that I'd have to call the other number because that's who does the water heaters.  I explained how I had been dealing with those people and gotten frustrated, and how I wanted to speak to someone to whom English was NOT a second language.  She was extremely nice, and got me through to one of the people in the AMERICAN branch of the water heater service area. Imagine that... within two minutes I had explained that they did not include the plastic housing and that it was necessary because the other one had caught on fire and melted, and she had ordered a new one to be sent to me and it will be here tomorrow.  TWO MINUTES. That is all it took, once I got to talk to someone who knew English.  Why the hell are they allowed to outsource jobs to other countries which AMERICANS could be filling, feeding familes here in the states? Look how much more efficient it would be!  And the only reason these stupid companies go and open call centers in foreign countries is because people will "work for much less."  Yeah, that may be true... we aren't stupid, after all. BUT, that being said.... you get what you pay for, you cheap morons.  Next time, I won't be buying a Whirlpool ANYTHING. Just like I'll never use AOL. And any other companies I have which outsource like that I have plans for dropping as soon as something else comes available to me.

Oh, and I wrapped Mom's presents to the boys this afternoon. It reminds me, though, I have to buy batteries for them, don't let me forget.  But that reminds, me, too... I had a great idea for Christmas tree ornaments the other day.... buy a lot of those four-packs of batteries and tie them to the tree with red ribbons.  Then, when Christmas day comes and all the children ( and old children ) get their Christmas presents that require batteries there's not last-minute run to try and find a store that's open on Christmas day.  Now, why didn't I have that idea when my kids were little and I could have really USED it?  Oh, well.... there's always the grandkids.

Christmas Lights 2009

Okay, here goes.... it's almost 11:30 at night, I have been outside in 30 degree (and less) weather all day, and now I am finally, THANKFULLY, done. I couldn't get my trees to work, but I'll deal with those4 tomorrow. And I'm going to bed now, so enjoy the pictures while I recuperate.  Goodnight, all! :)

Day 104: December 9th, 2009

Quote of the Day:  by Allan K. Chalmers:

"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."

I got up this morning to a FREEZING COLD HOUSE!!!! The door to the backyard had come open in the middle of the night thanks to that stupid weatherstripping keeping it from closing, and it was 51 degrees in the house with the heater running full blast. Dangit! Just what we need, a bigger electric bill. What a total waste. At least all the cats were smart enough to figure out that it was too cold to get outside, and they were all in the house. I can't wait until we have the money to completely replace the doors and get rid of that particular problem. And the windows... you can feel a ten degree difference when you're within three feet of a window. We'd DEFINITELY save on electricity then.

Today was picture day for my weight-loss records, but I had to wait forever for the house to warm up enough for me to feel comfortable doing them, since I have to be in a bikini and all. I honestly can't say that I see any difference when I'm looking in the mirror, but I guess that all my weight loss is occurring all over my body instead of just in one area, so it's making my body appear the same even though I'm losing weight? It's so hard for me to tell! The pictures show the loss, though... I was pleasantly surprised. I've still got a way to go, but I'm getting there. Definitely going to have to up the toning exercises, that's for sure! LOL

The newest Harry Potter came out on DVD yesterday, and of course it is a have-to-have, so we bought it at WalMart while it was still sale price. Don't you love how WalMart has that reduced-price thing for the first three days of its new releases? Saves you SOOO much money! For once I had both the boys at home at the same time, so we all piled into the car to get down there and get the movie, and something to eat while watching it because I didn't have anything laid out to cook for dinner.  It had been a really great day, with no backtalking, no arguing, and everything going along smoothly. Then, as it always happens when the two of them are together for any amount of time, Damien and Cody's personalities finally clashed and the entire drive there, time in the store, and drive home were monstrous.  See, the problem is that they are BOTH too much like Ron and I are. Neither of them will back down if they know they're right, neither of them has learned how to just "let it go", and they are both very opinionated.  Normally, this is not a problem for most people. However, that being said.... it really stinks because once Damien gets into his bad mood, it LASTS. A LONG TIME.  And he starts in on the "people suck, the world sucks, my generation is a bunch of idiots and morons" thing that drives me so nuts. I wish I knew where he had learned all this negativity from. Ron and I haven't spent his entire childhood ranting and raving about things like that, so he either learned it at school from his friends, or he is just naturally pessimistic and a bummer to be around. And he really is a depressing person. He has this ability to bring everyone around him down when he's in one of his moods, and it MAKES! ME! NUTS!

I got a couple strands of Christmas lights up yesterday in the front yard, but it was sooooo cold and windy outside, with such strong winds, that when it started sprinkling I said the heck with it and came back inside. Now, I'm thinking that maybe I should have stuck it out and dealt with it, though, because today's forecast high WAS supposed to be 36... Brrrrrrrr.  But I had to get out there and try to get the lights done so that I can take pictures to send to my baby, soooo... today it was back out to the yard in the cold and do some serious lights.  When I got up this morning it was like 20 out, with a wind chill of 7. WAY too cold to even step foot outside.  When I started doing the lights it was 29 out, with 17 MPH winds, so the wind chill was 17.  At 3pm, when I finished the ground lights, it was 31 out, with a wind chill that felt like 22. Definitely an improvement, but still cold as heck.  Then, at 4pm after doing the tree out front, it was still 31 with wind chill of 22.  Forecast high of 36 my BUTT!!!!  I don't think so!!!!  We never did make it.  And now it's 9:20 at night, I'm only 3/4 of the way done with the lights, and it's 24 out with a wind chill of  17. I am ONE COLD PUPPY!!! Can't wait to get it all finished so that I can come inside and get WARM!!!! May even get out the heating blanket tonight, who knows.

Have you ever seen me all bundled up for warmth, by the way? I gain a hundred pounds instantly.  It's hilarious!  Here's a comparison photo for you, both taken this morning, so that you can see the difference. Like I told my friend Sherrie when I showed it to her, it looks like some sort of crazy weight-loss commercial! HAHAHA

Oh, and by the way, Ron, I do NOT know why you took the light stakes off the edging lights to store them, but it is such a pain in the butt to have to use the pliers in the cold to squeeze those wires together that I am not taking them off this year. I will figure out a way to store them without removing the stakes, thank you very much. Maybe I can line them all up on the ground and roll them up in layers of cloth like one of those little roly-tool kits they show on tv, so that they don't tangle up and are easy to work with next winter.  I'll think about it while I'm waiting for the time to take the lights down and come up with something. But I can't even imagine sitting out there for hours with the pliers prying the wires apart to get the lights out.  So next Christmas time it's going to be a little different putting those lights up.  The rest of it will be the same, though. The bagged lights seem to work out really well, so I'm glad we came up with that.   Oh, and as far as the tree goes.... we need to buy six or eight giant LED nets that can all be hooked together and cover the tree, because it is a PAIN to try to get the lights up into it! I did not like it at all.  You know me and ladders... ;)

Got the part in yesterday afternoon to fix the water heater! At first when I looked at it I was wondering how in the heck I was going to be able to do the repair, but ya know how that goes.  I looked at the information that came with it and it seems pretty easy to do. I was going up there tonight to replace the old circuit board with the new one, but it has taken so long to do the lights that I wouldn't get to it until late, and like Ron said, who knows how long the water heater will take to replace. SOOOO, I'm going to do it tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes, but I'll write an update on here tomorrow with pictures. Right now, I'm going back out there to finish those darn lights. The pictures had BETTER look good, with all this stupid work! HAHAHA

Day 103: December 8th, 2009

Quote of the Day:

"With what a deep devotedness of woe

I wept thy absence - o'er and o'er again

Thinking of thee, still thee, till thought grew pain,

And memory, like a drop that, night and day,

Falls cold and ceaseless, wore my heart away!"

                                  ~Thomas Moore

Well, I did it! I found out this morning that I passed my class with an 80.  THANK GOD! I was really sweating bullets after that monstrous final exam! I have NEVER taken such a horrible test, in my entire life! And it turns out, all my study group passed as well, so we're all still in great shape for studying together next semester.  And next semester we will all REALLY need to study a LOT.  Next semester is when we have to take the HESI exam - the test which you HAVE to pass or else you cannot graduate.  Everyone gets three chances to pass it, but if you can't pass it then you're not graduating with the rest of your class.  Not sure what class they make you repeat, or how it all works. I don't think I really even want to know. I've just spent the entire time telling myself that I AM GOING TO PASS IT THE FIRST TIME I TAKE IT SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO STRESS OUT ON IT ANYMORE.  I am so tired of all the worrying that goes along with nursing school. It almost seems that the classes you have to take to get your degree are a lot harder than the job you will be doing! And then, once I get the HESI exam behind me I'll have the NCLEX-RN to look forward to... the test I have to pass to get my RN license.   Oh, joy.  WHEN will the testing end, for pete's sake?

I jumped through hoops today and went shopping for Ron for some quick microwave meals and spent a couple hours packing all his things into boxes and mailing them to him.  I sent him four boxes of that cranberry stuffing so that he and the guys can have it for Christmas dinner, and the good thing is that the lady at the post office said that it should all without a doubt make it there before Christmas.  THAT is good news! I know, things happen that rarely can be foreseen, and there are times when you're mailing things to an APO that they just aren't going to make it in the promised time no matter what, but it's still comforting to think that there's that chance. I sent him banana bread and beer and cheese bread, too, and a couple other small things. I think the one he'll most appreciate is his robe, so that he can be warm on the way to and from the showers. I've sent him all sorts of things to use to keep warm, so he should be very comfy until he comes home. Which isn't soon enough!

I started putting up the Christmas lights out front today, but didn't get much done hardly because the wind was blowing, it was cold, and it started to drizzle. So I packed it up and came back inside. Forget it! LOL I'll go back out there tomorrow with some warmer clothes and all day to work on it and see how much I can get accomplished. As of right now, I'm tempted to only do the white lights around the edges of the yard and leave the rest until NEXT year. Would sure make it easier to do that, wouldn't it? I'll see how I feel tomorrow.  Oh, and the part for the water heater came today, so I'll be going up here in a little bit to switch those out. Wish me luck that it's the right part, and that it is easy to do... I don't usually work on anything electrical, that's Ron's job.  I'm just not that great at it. But it's got to be done, so I'll let you know how it went, and if we have hot water in the kitchen tomorrow morning. THAT would be great! :)

Other than that, I'm sitting down tonight with my list book and getting everything all set up for my time off, so that I can have a plan of attack to help me get things checked off.  Already I have more on there than I will be able to do, but that's okay... I've got some other things to add which would be much better in the long run to do.  And there's a couple things which I can mark off completely because they were already finished.  But first, I'm off to Movie Gallery to return Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  Which was pretty good, by the way.  I've got my eyes out on a couple of other movies I would like to see. Maybe I'll find the time to catch the cheap shows sometime.

A Message From Ron

From: "Ron"

To: Carmen

Sent: Tue, December 8, 2009 1:25:19 AM

Subject: Hey love

Guess what I just found out? They are planning on promoting me again this coming August to SMSgt!!!! All I have to do is finish my senior enlisted course ASAP. Is that kick ass or what? Anyways I need to get back to work, I was just so excited that I had to let you know.

Love ya and will talk to you tonight.

RONALD A. NASON, MSgt, USAF

From: Carmen

Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 4:12 PM

To: Ron

Subject: Re: Hey love

HELL, YEAH! I AM VERY, VERY EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! How long does it take to finish the course? Will you have to take it over there? This is pretty sudden, since you're only over there a couple more months. Wow! :)

Talk to you soon! Love ya!

From: "Ron"

To: Carmen

Sent: Tue, December 8, 2009 7:36:52 AM

Subject: Hey love

I was actually already enrolled in the course and was planning on finishing it here before I found out about it. The Major told Mike that I needed to come see him this morning as soon as I had a chance, so there I was trying to figure out what I had screwed up on or who I pissed off this time! That is when he asked if I was interested in being the next SMSgt, I’m sure I had the deer in the headlights look for a moment until I understood what he was saying, so I told him uhm dugh of course I am! So then he told me that Col Luke had asked all the other SMSgt about it and they were moving a slot to my section so they could promote me. Then he told me that I have to finish this course before I can sew it on. So now I’m on a mission to finish it. It isn’t too bad, it’s all on line and there are 5 sections that after each section I have to go over to the Learning center and take a test. SO I guess if I already knew everything that was in it I could be done in 5 days, you can only take one test per day. So my plan is one to two tests a week until I finish it.

Oh and it might be as soon as April when I sew it on, the time in grade requirement is only 20 months not 24. So if that’s the case I will have an almost entire month of SMSgt pay at the end of my orders! This also means only one more stripe to go! Anyways I need to finish up some things here in the office before I can call it a day.

Love you and will talk to you in a couple of hours…MUAH!!!

So I guess pretty soon, I'll be seeing....

Wow!  Came a long way from this.....

Or actually, from nothing.... since he started out his career as a NO-STRIPE! LOL

Day 102: December 7th, 2009

Quote of the Day: "Remember sadness is always temporary. This, too, shall pass." -Chuck T. Falcon

Well, the best thing that I can say is that it is FINALLY over.  By the time I was only on the second page of the test I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The way the questions were worded was extremely misleading, and it even took ME almost an hour and a half to take it. And those of you who know me, know that I can finish a test in no time at all without hardly blinking.  PEOPLE WERE LEAVING THE ROOM IN TEARS! I know that there were a lot of students in my class who were in danger of failing the class, their grade banking on them doing well on the final exam, and I really am wondering how many people will be in our group after this.  It was without a doubt the most difficult test I have ever taken in this program. I don't think that I did very well on it at all.  I left with that same sinking feeling, just KNOWING that I had failed the test.  If I failed the test, then I failed this class, which means that I cannot continue in nursing school until NEXT January... that's January of 2011. So.... it is with a heavy heart that I await my final grade in the class.  I'm on pins and needles, waiting for a miracle but not really expecting one. I don't even care anymore if I'm stuck with a "C" in the class, just PLEASE let me have passed it so that I can move forward and be a nurse. If I didn't pass, that's a whole year of waiting in which all the knowledge I have gained will be lost due to not being around it.

On the positive side of things, I finally had the time to call Whirlpool and speak to some yahoo in God only knows what foreign country. Seems this lovely little water heater is only under warranty for labor for one year, after which it has 9 years of warranty for "parts and tank only". So.... they are shipping me out a new control board that I have to put in myself. It will get here tomorrow. And she tried to make me pay shipping for that part, can you believe it??? For something that happened as a result of THEIR product's malfunction??? I DON'T THINK SO. Needless to say, I am receiving the new part tomorrow VIA UPS and did NOT have to pay shipping for it. I'm not sure if they think all Americans are idiots, or what, but come ON! Stand behind your product, already. Stop nickel and diming your consumers!

Okay, enough of that.  I had to go toWalMart this morning with Laurie to help her find an American flag for the front of her house, and while we were there I found Ron's little miss Mocha a coat to keep her warm, at a third of the prices I have seen ANYWHERE... even at WalMart.  I am not convinced she likes it, but how should I know.... She was shivering so badly that I forced her to come inside.  You'd think I had killed her or something! I mean, really.... it's 30 degrees outside today with a wind chill of 25... I THINK you can come inside for a while.  Seriously, she loves the outdoors so much it's hilarious. She'd even rather be in the garage on her dog bed than in the house. I think she has something against cats, actually... now that I think about it.  Oh, and can you believe.... WalMart had a scarf and legwarmer set.... FOR DOGS!!!! Who in the world comes up with this stuff? Do they sit around reading kids' books and then decide that real dogs would like to wear this stuff too? I couldn't resist.... so here is a picture of Mocha in her scarf and leg warmers.... WAY over the top, but too cute to care. I think. HAHAHA

Day 101: December 6th, 2009

Quote of the Day: "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." - Helen Keller

I found my list book, sitting right in my bookshelf where I must have left it. Which is not where I remember having it last, NOR is that where it usually is. I don't ever put it in the bookshelf because I constantly use it, which means I must have put it there one day while cleaning for study group or something. I have no idea half the time why I put things places, or don't, or anything. It just doesn't make any sense. But at least I found it, right? So now I know that I had intended to sort out the linen closet over Christmas break, and re-organize the kitchen (what was I thinking on THAT one?). I also know that I wanted to paint the master bathroom, train the dog, finish my painting, and organize all the paperwork and stuff throughout the house.  Boy, will I sleep better knowing that I have all of THAT hanging over my head in the next couple weeks, on TOP of what I have been thinking about doing to surprise Ron. Yikes... time's going to FLY by!

I sorted out the Christmas lights today and came up with my plan of attack, and now I just have to wait and see what it will turn out like once i get started tomorrow after the final exam. I've decided that when they have the clearance sales this year we need more single-color light strands... we have tons of white, tons of blue, and tons of multicolor, but only two red strands and two green strands.  NOT hardly enough to give us a good variety of colors out there... I'm going to have to remedy that ASAP. BEFORE next Christmas, which is going to be our best yet... because Ron and I will be doing it TOGETHER. Not just him, and not just me.  THAT I'm looking forward to. This year? Not so much.

I found a blog today that was written by a nurse that really made me stop and think. She told a story about a house that she would always pass by on the train to work, that always had party lights on and people out and about, that she was just fascinated with.  Every day on the way to work she looked forward to seeing the house with its lights and parties and wonder about the owner, and how anyone had the strength to host so many parties.  Then one day the lights were all off and nobody was there, and when she got to work she found out that the lady who lived in that house was in the hospital. The nurse talked to her for a long time and learned her story of how she lost most of her family and children leaving Argentina (I think) to go to Canada and had spent the rest of her life feeling guilty for it so she always wanted to have her big house all lit up and happy and all her remaining family around her all the time. It was really a sad story, because the lady passed on later that shift, but it left the nurse with a sense of knowing something greater. She had to sit down and think about what the important things in life really are.  Those are the moments which I think will make nursing worth it in the end, the moments that take your breath away.

Off to bed now, I have final exams tomorrow.... wish me luck! Goodnight, everyone!