Done, but not really

I took the NCLEX on July 27 and was sure I hadn't passed, but I did.  I went on vacation to Michigan two days after the test, and did not find out until the next Saturday when I spoke to Mr. K on the phone that my nursing license had arrived.  So, legally I am now a nurse.  I'm touching up my resume.  Yesterday I took a CPR class so I can have the certification listed on my resume.  I think it's pretty much required for anyone in the healthcare field.  My previous certification had expired in June. 

I would like to start work within a couple weeks of the kids going back to school last month, but I need to find a job first, so I am really not done.  I'll be applying at the local hospitals in the next week or two.  Once I find a job and become comfortable with it, I need to begin taking classes again so that I can get a BS in nursing.  All I have is an associate's degree in nursing now.  I am not really done, but it is a good beginning.

I am extremely uncomfortable with the data collection going on, and that has been one of the reasons I do not post much any more.   The other is that I had been so busy.  I have a little time for a little while so I may try to catch up.

Vacation was exhausting, but it was good to see family.  I took the kids by myself.  K melted down in the car frequently.  N and J were good.  J was my navigator, and she was able to determine from the maps how far it was to the next rest area, which was a very important piece of information.  I do not have a GPS.  I hope this is a skill she will remember throughout life and won't become entirely dependent on a GPS.

I brought souvenirs back for a couple of my friends.  I got them a box of Betty Crocker cherry chip cake mix, which is not sold around here, and a bag of sugar made in Michigan from sugar beets.  Around here all you can get is cane sugar.

How I hate 5 a.m.

While I am enjoying my clinicals and my preceptorship, I HATE 5 AM!!!

That's what time I have to get up on  Wednesdays and Thursdays to get to the hospital by 6:30.  A wise person would just get up at 5 a.m. every day and then it would stop hurting.  I lack that kind of wisdom, and am looking forward to getting up at 7:45 a.m. tomorrow because it will feel like sleeping in.

Tomorrow I have a test.  I hope it goes well.

Valentine Flowers

 

These are flowers Mr. K got me for Valentines.  He got some flowers at the supermarket and then he supplemented with some flowers from around our yard (lenten rose and oregon grape), some nandina berries from our yard, and some dogwood twigs from our yard.  I just got the pictures off the camera today, so that is why the picture is here now.  I was very surprised to get flowers since I did not specifically ask for them.  I am glad Mr. K did it so cheaply because I am the one who writes the check to pay the credit card bills.

It is nearly a month later and the lenten roses are still alive, the nandina berries just started looking dessicated, the purple thing that came from the store and was rather dry to begin with is fine, and the dogwood twigs are leafing out now.  The roses died first and had to be dumped.

I am also able to pick daffodils from my yard now so I have a vase of them in my kitchen.

Back at Starbucks

It's Saturday and not too late, so I had coffee.  The kids kept interrupting my reading so I decided to come here so I could get my material read without interruption.  It worked, and I got through the Powerpoint slides.  I don't have my written bits done, but I think I'll do that later in the day after I go grocery shopping.

Mr, K is in the back yard, smoking a picnic in the smoker he made a couple of his old beehive boxes (he's given up beekeeping).  Pretty much this means he spends the day in the yard with a fire, monitoring the temperature of his smoker by adding coals to it, opening the door, and spraying the coals with water to cool them if things get too hot.

Wednesday, I did something I thought I'd never do, and I'd do it again.  After clinical, which I got home from just before 4 p.m., I went to Little Caesar's and got a couple Hot and Ready (or something like that) pepperoni pizzas and some bread sticks for dinner.  Normally I do not like their pizza, but it was okay, probably because I was so hungry.  On Wednesdays, we need to be done eating by 5:05 p.m. because J has riding lessons.  It was very easy.  I just went in and bought them; there was no waiting.  Also I see they have a drive-thru. 

Friday I actually made dinner.  I had cooked brown rice in the evening Thursday after clinical and put it in the fridge because on uses cold rice for fried rice.  It is Lent so the meal had to be meatless for Keith.  I found a recipe for fried rice in a magazine I wanted to try, and I bought frozen vegetable egg rolls to go with it.  It came out really well, and although the kids wouldn't eat it, Mr. K wanted to be sure all they left on their plates was saved so he could have it today.  I thought it was very good, too, and I had some for breakfast.

I guess I should go and get my grocery shopping done.

Don't ever slam a door; you might want to go back

I've been to a Chinese restaurant today and had a fortune cookie.

The road to success is often a lonely one

That's the fortune in my fortune cookie I got at a Vietnamese restaurant I had lunch at today with my friend Debbie.  The waitstaff had on t-shirts that said, "Beer is the answer."  I asked the cashier what the question was, but she never answered me.

At Starbucks

It's evening.   I'm at Starbucks because I have a test tomorrow and I need to study and do on-line practice tests.  The kids, especially K, won't leave me alone.  First I tried the library, but I forgot they are closed on Thursdays.  I came here next.  I found they don't make decaf coffee after 11 a.m.  That's a stumper.  If it were before 11 a.m., I'd love to have the regular coffee.  I need to sleep tonight so I ended up with an herbal tea.