Double Whammy

I used to love that show - Whammy - but that's when I went through my Game Show Network phase. Now I look forward to my precious 1-2 hours a TV each day! I'm very conservative with what I watch & when I watch it. My TV gets turned on every morning so I can watch the news & the weather while I eat breakfast & get ready and gets turned on once or twice in the evenings for a short breather from school and studying.

Today though...I treated myself with several TV shows and am about to watch a few more because I had a Patho exam Monday and a Fundamentals exam today and my brain is shot! If any of my 50 classmates are doing school work, they're nerds. Unfortunately, I am going to fall into that category because I would like to start studying for my Medication Administration check off on Thursday.

I made an 82 on both exams. I was very excited I made that grade on Patho because the exam had A LOT of material but wasn't too thrilled about the B for Fundamentals. But you get whatcha get and I deserved what I got for both exams. This week is slowing down which is great because I have a lot to catch up on and things I want to accomplish like fill in my little 3"x 5" Memo Pad with skills, techniques, stats and extra tidbits for when I start going to my hospital clinicals on October 3rd! I also need to make electronic flashcards for Medical Terminology. On top of it all, I have to make a "pathology tree" for a group project that is being presented on my birthday, the 25th, and my group is meeting Sunday to finish everything and film our little skit. I have various other tasks I can't think of right now but I don't have the capacity to think about them because I'm brain dead.

But it's going to start all over again next week and the week after that and continue until the 2nd week in December...argh...Don't get me wrong, I love nursing school. I love my professors. I like most of my classmates but it is difficult and strenuous and time-consuming and I feel scatter-brained every single day of the week! They say this is the hardest semester and hopefully it gets better because I hate being scatter-brained. I hate how my anxiety has worsened. I hate how I barely have time to talk to Justin on the phone or my other friends...sorry girls & guys...I love y'all though!!!

But here's some funnies to laugh with me so we can all breathe a little easier, sleep a little lighter and think about the light at the end of the tunnel!



This was me the past 3 days...translation: Caffeine, by mouth, every 4 hours, as necessary or when needed.







My personal favorite because this will be me one day...inevitably...

Love y'all!
A

When I thought...

...I had it all organized and in control...the following happens:

1. Football season starts...and of course, I went to last weekend's game v. Sam Houston. Glad to see a win and non-starters to get playing time but I slightly worried about all the school work I could've been working on at home. Oh well! I had a great time with my family and Justin. We got to go on the field while the teams warmed up. Pretty amazing to see Kyle Field from a different perspective on a game day!

But what makes me more nervous is that I had opted out of going to the 'bama game this coming weekend because I have exams Monday & Tuesday of next week but after much contemplation, a few tears, and hearing that "it's going to the most important & historical game played on Kyle Field EVER" ...I thought...eh, probably need to experience this... and this is where I go into my 2nd point...

2. My nose is in a book every night... for at least 3-5 hours. So far, school has not been tough. But give it a 2 weeks and I'll be waist-deep in EVERYTHING that I'll be drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes with double the espresso for every meal. I haven't really kept up with most of the readings assigned. The professor for Health Assessment said don't worry about reading the book. Fundamentals is just WAY TOO MUCH reading. And I didn't get my Patho book in via the mail until last Wednesday afternoon so as soon as I get done reading for my Dosage Calculation exams, Patho will be my go-to book for the week. 

3. Professors add more to your calendar! This does not make anyone happy and adds extra stress to my daily life. I made my own weekly planner and have everything from readings, assignments, exams, what color scrubs to wear, and other helpful things that I use daily to help me study the important stuff first and keeps me in line for the week. What upset me the most is that our course coordinator for Fundamentals exclaimed we could have "Medicine Administration" skill check-offs this week and half of us would have our first Simulation this week or next. Thanks Professor for the heads up! I thought our skill check-offs were going to be over nasogastric tubes and catheters?!?!? ...errr... 

4. Balancing school, relationships, extracurricular & chores is really tough. I am very blessed to be back in a very familiar atmosphere (i.e. College Station Home) and have an amazing support system (i.e. Steve, Kim, Shelby, Justin and various others). Yet I'm still figuring out how this balance system is suppose to work. I am now considering working out with my trainer at Gold's Gym fun because I do not have the time to go ride horses with Aubrey. I sit at school all day so when I come home, I try to find tiny things to do while standing = let me do the laundry or dishes = love/hate relationship with chores. 

I really can't think of why I need to jot down a couple more numbers because I've summed up my life tale, for now. I could go into great detail about my daily activities and/or thoughts but I'll spare you the misery. It can be pretty boring. 

Don't get me wrong, I love learning the new things I need to know to become a successful nurse but it's a hard road ahead. I have a million thoughts swirling through my head many times a day of topics I can't even remember because I'm thinking of medical terminology, the pathology tree I have to create for a group project, the argument I had with Justin (now resolved, thank cheesus), the stupid, confusing dosage problems, making sure I remember to wear my ID badge to school and so many other things I can and cannot control.

Please just say a short prayer for me - please and thank you - I'll say a prayer for you.

Forever and Ever! ....lol....My Best's Friends Wedding...

Man, I need to watch some old movies soon! Any suggestions?

Anyways...

With love always,

A

A New Chapter

I'm sorry I was not in the mood to blog the past month but I am going to try and keep up with it as the new semester begins. I went to EC for my 2 week break and did not take my computer and did not want to hog Mom's computer for such an amount of time so I just kept putting this off. But I did pass with A's in my first semester!! Anyways, on to a new chapter...

Last week, I started my 2nd semester of nursing school. I am taking Fundamentals, Health Assessment, Pathophysiology for the 1st 7 weeks and Pharmacology for the last 8 weeks. My schedule is very interesting and busy. I attend class Monday-Wednesday and have labs Tuesday, Thursday & Fridays. What is going to be the challenge is keeping up with all of the studying, reading, and assignment when we have to be in lab from 8-5 on Thursday & Friday for the next 4-5 weeks. After that, they will assign us clinical rotations, in which we will attend once a week and possibly have supplemental mandatory lab once every other week. The professors were pretty easy on us this week. Not much reading, only 1 assignment and very short days in the lab Thursday & Friday. But I do not expect that from here-on-out...

Patho is interesting so far. I've learned about cancer and some mental health issues. I'm waiting on my book to come in so I can study the power points and read the book to reinforce what I'm learning. My friend, Kerry, said that she did that the other night and it was very helpful.

Health Assessment has been boring thus far. Our professors for that class are very intellectual and have AMAZING examples but we've gone over the basics so yeah...can't really put that picture into view for y'all.

Fundamentals has been good. I love learning hands-on so I will probably give y'all more experiences from lab than anything else! Last week, we learned sterile technique and enemas. Great fun!

I'm looking forward to learning but I know everything is going to be challenging. Hearing the phrase "check-offs" makes my blood pressure and adrenaline rise immediately. I have to read 1,000 pages a week it seems like and to make it a little more difficult. I'm learning how to use my new computer because my red Toshiba decided to die last Wednesday. I'm very lucky and blessed to have gotten a new one on Friday afternoon per delivery of my parents. Thank y'all very much!!!

I did get a small treat before I hit the books hard - GIRLS WEEKEND - Austin Edition!!! It was great to visit and have fun with some amazing girls this weekend. The highlight was our trip to Painting with a Twist, where we painted a beautiful picture while drinking wine. I'm trying to find a place to hang it now...and sorry for no pictures, I haven't plugged my phone into my computer yet since I'm still downloading files from my external hard drive.

So as I'm typing, my mind is going super crazy with all of the things I need to accomplish on my day off tomorrow. I'm glad I got to sit down for a short while and send out a little tidbit but if you don't get a post for 2 or 3 weeks from me, I'm going to crazy hardcore to accomplish an important goal - to serve God by taking care of His people.

God Bless,
A