Sitting on the Surface of the Sun

Would probably be cooler than this right now. Fan in hubby's car broke so the AC does not work... we can't find the fan to fix it... so it'll have to wait until we can afford the garage. With that being said, a 35 mile car ride when temps are hitting between 104-110 everyday makes for a blast furnace ride home! My oven on wheels just wears me out!

Well as it turns out I have to day off tomorrow, I got paid for my hours at the Customer Service job already, love per Diem! Soooo... tomorrow is haircut, a stuff for the trip to take in carry-on. Oh I suppose I'll throw in some study time as well.

Weekend Whatnot

Yesterday my daughter came home from her 10 days in Texas... she loved it, as I was afraid she would! We had a nice remainder of the day as all of us had some family time in the pool, cooked some burgers and just had a nice time together as a family.

We leave for this Friday! Can't wait to see everyone! I wish my husband could have gotten the time off to come with us the same day, it'll be our 10 year anniversary on the 4th and we won't be together ;-(

I have a ton to do, packing, cleaning, and studying! Somehow I have to fit in my midterm and all this work I agreed to do this week. Working Monday & Tuesday at the customer service job, from 6 to 12:30 then off to the Respite job until 5:00ish then Wed and Thursday its just respite... however, I need to do all that cleaning and packing and studying during that time too. I hate ALGEBRA!

I did manage to get an extension on the week's assignments while I am gone so I don't have to worry about school work while on vacation. That's nice. Now to just get through the midterm!

I need to study but I have such a headache right now, even Motrin isn't touching it. I'm afraid that my BP is starting to get a bit wonky! Its hard to manage formula memorization with a migraine!

Mixed Emotions

1 more week till vacation.
&
1 week till midterms.
&
1 dead Jeep.
&
3 dead celebrities.

Favorite MJ song or remembrance... loved all the stuff from the early days of The Jackson Five, Ben was a killer song... and Thriller the video/movie... LOVED it. Although in the later years when his face starting falling off I was longing for the 80's when he was still cute.

RIP
Michael Jackson, Ed McMan,& Farrah Fawcett

HawthoRNe vs Nurse Jackie

Ok so most have weighed in on the two new Nursing dramas HawthroRNe & Nurse Jackie.

Ok so I don't like HawthoRNe and probably will not watch anymore. I don't find the characters compelling, the acting is drab, and Jada to the rescue of all? Well, I find that hard to believe that a CNO would be involved in such small matters as a patient's verbal abuse of a Nurse. I would think it would be more like "Suck it up whining newbie! CYA, document and do the care you can do." I also find that it's more like she's a doctor or an NP, at the least, and I don't feel like its realistic nor is it entertaining! I just kept waiting for something to happen, some character to draw me in, someone I could relate to. None of the above for me sad to say.


Nurse Jackie- Well for so many reasons and more its totally NOT a good light for Nurses, but it sure as hell is good entertainment! I love the dark humor of it, you can see bits of reality interspersed with pure unadulterated shock value. The darker side of the profession maybe, but I bet its closer to the inner thoughts of a Nurse than many may think. The value of the show is to explore 1 ER Nurse, her foibles, her insight, her bad and her good qualities. I am sure there are many seasoned Nurses who can relate and many Student Nurses have stood in the shoes of Zoey.


And yet...

I have high hopes for Mercy, coming in the fall to NBC, it actually looks like a Grey's for Nurses, I hope it lives to its potential. I'll be sure to tune in and see!

Wednesday What's Up...

Today I have the whole day off! So I'm planning on spending some more quality time with my son, my daughter has been in Texas since the 17th and is coming back on the 27th!

I made a spice cake with cream cheese frosting, put some baked beans in the crock pot for dinner, made some pastrami on kaiser for lunch, and am just checking the blogs while I eat.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day in the pool I think. Of course I will remember my sunblock this time. Reapply reapply reapply!. It's supposed to be the hottest day today... reaching 109-110 possibly!

Tomorrow I am working some hours covering at my old Customer Service job from 6-12:30 then from 1:30 to 5:30 doing respite care for a baby with medical needs. It'll be nice to have some money again!

Well off to get a few problems in for midterm studying then out to the pool!

oh.. the conclusion to my thoughts are these... Second Block is going to contain the usual with the IV cert class. I'll hold off on Block 3 until the Fall 2010 semester and hopefully find an LPN job in this economy. Then I'll take my Chemistry, Microbiology, Humanities, Pathophysiology & Statistics courses through the Spring and Summer sessions, before starting Block 3. It'll put me ahead of the curve and ready for going directly into the BSN portion right after ADN. It's a long road to RN but LPN is still a nurse and a nurse was my goal. Which hey, when you think of it, I only started this journey in October of 2007. I've come pretty far in a short time, even though it feels like forever, and well I'll graduate with my college degree, first in my family, at the end of this!

Mundane Monday

So let's see, I'm trying to get this week's Algebra test out of the way today or tomorrow, so that I can start memorizing the midterm examples for the midterm on the 3rd. Remembering all the rules kills me when it comes to math and which formulas to use to solve all this crap... but hey I just need a C.

So on the Nursing School front... I am deep in thought and trying to figure out which direction I am going come December.

The ADN RN program is made up of 4 Blocks.
Blocks 1 & 2 are the LPN year (Which I am official in)
Blocks 3 & 4 are the RN Year.
My dilemma is that once I finish Block 2 in December, I could potentially roll right into Block 3. The problem is that I will be 2 co-reqs shy of eligibility as it stands right now.

Sooo... money is the issue at this very moment that is causing all the issues. Things are really tight, the vacation was an unexpected expense as the money I was going to use to pay that with was shorted me so I had to dip into the bill money. Since that money is still not here, I am still short money and it adds up everyday. So at this present time coming up with the money for my CHM130 class by the 1st a bit of a long shot. The books and lab kit alone are over $100 and the tuituion is another $300. I am going to see if I can get a waiver or a payment option for the class until after the 8th, I am working some extra hours to try and get some money, but everyone and their brother has their hand out for that money and classes are coming a distant second, third, fourth... Hubby's checks are a whole other mess right now and not a bit of help on this front. So say I can manage to do some creative accounting, it leaves me with 1 co-req to take during Block 2, Microbiology. I'd have all the Nursing classes (the hardest ones), IV certification (if I want to get a job in December- which I do), and then Micro. Can I do all of that?

Or.... I can defer Block 3 until Aug of 2010... so instead of graduating in January of 2011 I'd graduate in May of 2011 with my RN-ADN, but in the mean time I'd be working as an LPN and taking the rest of my co-reqs, plus I'd add two of the pre/co-reqs for the BSN program to get a jump start and to keep my student loand at in-school status.`

So do I worry about the chem class now,or do I just think about the LPN portion, take the CHM and Micro over the spring semester with 1 Humanities class, and start Block 3 in the Fall... or do I do some creative accounting, get the money for the class, take the CHM in the Summer II session as planned, take the Micro class in Block 2 and not take the IV cert? Or take it all??? URGH!!

Block 1 was hard but I had some spare time and in hindsight I could have snuck in an easy humanities course or something, but a science? Humm not too sure about that. Which makes me wonder about Micro and Block 2. Its med-surg, OB and Pediatrics. Half of the class in Block 2 were repeaters last semester... so yeah... hummm... still so much to think about. The most important thing to worry about is passing Block 2!

Ok I have rambled long enough. Sometimes it just helps to write/vent it all out and have others to shoot the ideas off.

In the long run does it matter January or May?

Sitting here Saturday

Hubby fixed my laptop... had to wipe and recover... but its working and that's all that matters!<3 him.

Watched The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and that hottie Ryan Reynolds. Nice pecks! It was cute... not a must see, but a cute chick flick by the by.

Did Algebra, can't figure out my graphing calculator so I guessed at a few of the questions but I only missed one on today's test... so all in all not too bad. Sad to say but I'll have to go see the Math Tutor just to learn how to use the damn calculator before the midterm in two weeks.

I've been thinking alot about things and I have come to the decision that I need to think about things alot more.

Perhaps Plan B will become the new Plan A or maybe there'll be a Plan C... who knows!

Laptop Died again

I got the blue screen of death! Not sure what the heck is wrong... perhaps a crazy virus or a PC crash as per the norm of the Microsoft world. At least I have the warranty on it. But once again... everything on the Laptop is going to have to be wiped. Glad I didn't invest in the downloadable only software I did the last time this happened. But this totally sucks! I cannot afford to get a new one just now.

In other news, I did accept another Respite position very close I live. A few hours every evening taking care of a baby with great needs! I have always shied away from the Pedi aspect with Nursing care but since there is not a vent only a feeding tube and a myriad of Nero issues I think I can handle it. Of course with that being said it can really only be until the next semester starts but it'll be a learning experience and a chance to put some skills to use.

Well I am covering a Customer Service Shift right now... so back to work!

Knock me over with a feather...

Raising teenagers is tough! Sometimes I wonder who the hell they are and where the hell I was when that happened? Then I remember... AT WORK! I think we should be stay-at-home mom's when the kids are teenagers instead of when they are little. They get in less trouble that way.

My thesis for one of my English 101 papers was that, Teenagers are in fact alien clones of our own sweet babies, while off on a distant planet, some Alien is rejoicing in the joy that our "actual" teenagers exhibit, while we are left here acclimating the alien spawn to human existence. It's no wonder they all seem hardwired to do the opposite of what they are told. To always take the harder route. They aren't human! They weren't the ones we tucked in at night, kissed the boo boo's of, and who's sweet cherub faces promised to love only Mommy and Daddy, and agreed to not date until they were 30!

To peel or not to peel?

Wow the burn is starting to peel & heal. I would add a pic of the grossness that is the current state of my legs. But I will not subject innocent bystanders to the horror I call thighs!

With that being said... the question of the day is...

Are you a peeler or a lotion and wait type? Would you peel the skin off a total stranger? Are you compulsively drawn to it? Or are you repelled at the very thought?

Me... well I can't help it, they are my legs... but its like debriding a wound.. its what Nurses do right?

I am not moving... so there!

I just can't figure out how it would make sense. It would blow all my plans up, and dang, school is soooo important to our future that this crap is just so trivial to screw with the plan, even for our sanity. People will just have to deal until I graduate and get a job. They can deal with the neurosis and the complaining and just take the extra few minutes to pick up something extra or whatever and deal with it.

But like you all know... what is the first thing to go when you have a Nursing test, careplan or whatnot to deal with? HOUSEWORK!!! I don't care if the clean clothes are not put in the drawers, but are in the basket instead, the only thing I care about is if my uniform is clean, ironed and ready!

Oh well... such is a part of life and living with people to accomplish a dream...we must endure.

Today.. after going to look at a place in the middle of nowhere, but dirt cheap, I got the, " We don't want you to move out!"

Well of course not... I contribute alot ( money, cooking, shopping, & a built in 24hr babysitter.) Not to mention the built in nursing care that I have provided.

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I want to come back to this post in a year and laugh about the absurdity of it all, but I know in a month or two there will be one exactly like this! LOL

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Moving on.... now to deal with the blisters that are painfully forming over.... what's the rule of 9's for front of legs, chest and face??... OUCH!

Vent... don't bother to read this.

Got to get outta here. Just plain and simple. So I am going to have to bite the bullet and look for a place to move to and get a job even while finishing school. I'll just have to put off the RN portion of my education a semester.

Now to just figure out how to go about doing that in the market we are in with my current credit situation being less than stellar!

Perhaps the long term hotel one town over if worse comes to worse, but I can no longer deal with someone who needs to complain and bitch all the time because,god forbid... there is a plate in my room, my laundry is in my basket and not in my drawers, the kids didn't put the cap back on the toothpaste and her husband can no longer be the maid because he has had major surgery!

I bite my tongue and I try and do as much as I can and other than being laid up by the this sunburn or studying for school.... nothing I do is good enough or in her time frame anyway so whatever!

I moved 3000 miles away 4 years ago to get away and was doing fine. Things got tough since they've moved here because of the bad timing of the layoff and Arizona's backasswards unemployment benefit being so behind we couldn't pay our rent and electric bills at the same time but, it came in right in time and I could have not moved in here, but it was the easier options they suggested so that we could help each other out. Now it's because they are no longer in need its all about, " Well we let you move in here" She even said that to my son the other day, when he didn't bring his plate down to the kitchen 1 second after eating from it. What the fuck!!!

So well a few weeks and fuck it... I'll move into the hotel if I have to. We'll all just have to make do like a homeless family on vacation until I can get enough money or whatever for the down payment on a rental and such!! It is what it is and I should have known... I did know.... it would turn out like this.

A silent fight that could tear a WHOLE family apart! Because one person is a BITCH and the other lets her walk all over him.

And of course all of this happens AFTER I buy non-refundable tickets!!!!

2 days post crispy

I don't think I have had a burn like this in forever! My legs hurt so much and I walk like I had one hell of a weekend or just got off a horse!

My nose blistered so I look like something straight out of a Harry Potter book and it hurts to wear pants! I hope that goes away by Friday, because I promised to cover the reception desk... yup looking like a monster with no pants on... should go over real big!

So in other news yeah there really isn't any other news. Nothing exciting in Nursing School, since it is summer, and I am sure no one wants me to blog about the exploits of a boring, waste of time, online Algebra class!

However, on Sunday I did take this week's test and got a 100 on my first try, so yeah, maybe some of this crap is sticking. It all comes down to isolating the variable and solving for x. That's the only part of Algebra that is contained in Dosage and Calculations that I can relate as a need to know from a waste of time all together. All this quadratic equations and slope of a line is just BS.

Oh... not sure if I am supposed to really post about this but I don't think its top secret... but, hubby is taking another trip coming up this month for a few days... this time to testify in a DEA drug case related to something that happened to one of his trucks after it left his custody. What kind of stupid ass jerk decides to load drugs onto a truck that is a DOD shipment and not realize he's going to get caught?!?

Weird things like this seem to happen to him. This one time he had the FBI questioning him because a truck disappeared, turns out the driver died in his truck of an MI at a Truck stop somewhere in the Midwest.

Slathered in Noxzema...

Burned to a crisp... guess I didn't reapply enough sunscreen often enough. Was only out in the pool for 4 hours. This AZ sun is a blazin' and it wasn't even that hot out. Only in the low 90's with a nice breeze.

Right now I am sitting out on the covered patio trying to get motivated to get some school work done, due to yesterday's enforced, because the computer application was down for maintenance, pool day, I now have to play catch up.

Gotta love laptops and wi-fi.

You know what I think...

I think taking summer classes was a crazy idea!

Taking summer online classes was an even crazier idea!

Deciding to work the day before I have to take my Algebra midterm is the craziest idea ever!


Of course said midterm is going to be taken 1 week early on account that I want to take an extended vacation!

Now if only my procrastinating butt would concentrate on my classes instead of the latest addiction to vampire novels and its subsequent HBO series!

I will finish my homework, I will finish my homework... I will buy that new book!

I'm just so weak...Blah oh well.. I am what I am. I will at least finish this weeks assignment by Sunday and start on the next week. After all I have a new calculator toy to play with. But wouldn't it be so much nicer to get to relax in the pool all day, floating on a lounger and reading?

SIGH!

Finally a vacation for me too!!

Of course I have to share and I won't be with my husband on our 10 year anniversary after all, but hey that's the price you have to pay... literally that's the PRICE.

So myself and the kids and my nephew are all heading up to Massachusetts to visit with my sister and her family on the 3rd of July. The hubby is coming up on the 8th, then we are all leaving on the 14th. I'm very excited!

Of course I will have to do some juggling and take my Algebra midterm early and then take my Chemistry books with me when I go and try and get some school work in there in the mean time! Thank whoever invented online school... I surely appreciate the flexibility of it all.

I can already hear the beaches calling....

Busy Relaxing

So I just read 7 books in 4 days. Couldn't help it, they were addicting. Thanks for the recommend of the Sookie Stackhouse books. Now I have to go get the other two books.

In addition to that I started watching the DVD's of the first season of True Blood, which is based on the series. Now I have to order HBO!

In school news I have taken two Algebra tests and am proud to say I am not lost yet and have gotten two A's. I am starting the next Chapter and wow it is getting harder. I really need to find my graphing calculator soon!

I pushed Chemistry off until July so that I'll have money for plane tickets! Wow just look at my priorities!

Ok can't type anymore... really bad carpel tunnel day!