Happy Anniversary to ME!!

Yesterday was our fourth wedding anniversary and it was really mellow and great.

We spent the day together, just walking and shopping and then we went to see I Am Legend... uh... I knew NOTHING about the movie going in, so it freaked me right the fuck out and I had to leave the theater a couple of times. I am totally down with end of the world/apocalypse type movies... but when you throw monsters that used to be people into the mix I get FAR too convinced and I have nightmares for a week. I seriously couldn't get it all out of my head when I was trying to fall asleep last night either... made for some not exactly restful sleep.

Every year we buy a pair of wine glasses. The tradition started when one of the glasses we got at the Paris broke when we got home from our wedding. Now we buy a pair of glasses each year and if both of them make it thru the year we break one of them on our anniversary and get a new pair. This is the FIRST year that we've gotten to intentionally smash a glass... every year before this has seen the accidental demise of one of our anniversary glasses. It was deeply satisfying to wrap this years victim in paper, and stomp on it together. Our set this year are stem-less so I'm hoping they make it through.

Christmas was fantastic and I've run 3x/week for the last couple of weeks which is feeling really good. I'm trying VERY hard not to overwork my foot which is why I'm starting so slow... but at this point I'm gun-shy and I REALLY don't want another injury to slow me down.

Hope the holidays have been happy and healthy for all!

Travel Woes...

I have been trying to send Val to Oregon since Friday. For some reason the weather decided to warm up on Friday to about 40 degrees which created DENSE fog which effectively shut down our airport. No worries, they re-booked him on a later flight that same day... until that flight couldn't land and was diverted to Green Bay. By then we had to go for the next day because they won't put unaccompanied minors on late flights... so 7am Saturday it was. Saturday came and the flight was canceled (no flight crew or aircraft because nothing was being allowed to land still)... so we re-booked again for today at noon. Got to the airport at 11am to find that the wind and snow that blew in today had shut the airport down AGAIN. Gusts of up to 50 mph and blowing snow and the FAA says, "CANCELED!!!"

The ticket agents were very kind and said that the best option was a larger plane leaving out of Green Bay tomorrow morning. They upgraded Val to first-class and gave him a food voucher for his return trip, which they pushed out 4 days without a change fee. I'm feeling like he'll get off the ground tomorrow as long as MSP is clear. It just means that we have to be up and out the door by 4am to drive the hour to Green Bay to catch the plane which leaves at 6:40am. Its really going to fuck with my day but oh well.

Hope everyone enjoys their holidays and doesn't run into travel nightmares like these.

ciao!

Oh there's no place like...

DONE for the holidays.

I am done with Adult Health I. So far we've completed 12 credits which is basically what any full time student would complete in a term, so I suppose I shouldn't be bitching.

But for now I have 1 week off for the holidays and I am THRILLED.

Have a fantastic holiday, I know I will!!

New Routine

I started a new routine today. I realized that I've been wasting about an hour every morning between dropping the kids off at school and starting my own on-line coursework. I was just surfing and sipping my coffee for a good hour, which... while being good for my stress level, has not been good for for my fitness level.

So this morning I skipped the shower, got my gym clothes on and went straight to the Y for a 35 minute run/walk on the treadmill right after I dropped the boys off. I think it will work well for me in the morning to get some exercise in before I sit down with the books and get severely stressed.

Its quick, convenient, and if I stick to it, I'll hit my running goals a LOT faster than trying to squeeze runs in after I've finished my school work in the evening... which sometimes doesn't happen until 11p or so... and then I'm NOT going for a run in the cold and dark of Wisconsin winter and the Y is already closed... so... uh... yeah.

I did make it through Pathophysiology with an A, and I'm a little over half way through Adult Health I which is the FIRST class that has really made me feel like I'm learning to be a nurse. Everything else has been ground work... but this is really more about how we can intervene to change the progression of disease and the patient's experience of it. I'm really enjoying it, despite the continued harried pace and MASSIVE volume of data.

I am counting the days till Friday when I am DONE for a whole week!! This is the longest break of the program and I don't get another long one until August when we get 5 days... yeah... 8 months without a break... feel for me.

for the love...

of all that is good and holy.

My brain is going to asplode. Seriously. A S P L O D E.

Pathophysiology I my lovelies... a 4 credit patho course broken into two, two week, two credit courses, the first of which I am half way thru and ready to pull my hair out over.

ACK!!! And its not that its boring, because its inCREDibly fascinating to me... but its just so MUCH. HUNDREDS of pages of reading every single day, 50-60 review questions to write up (each student gets 4-6 depending on the day) and post, and then you have to review everyone elses questions, make sure you understand the material and ask questions if you dont... AND there is a quiz on the previous day's lesson each and every day of the week.

HU

ZZ

AH

?

I am going to do my best this afternoon and tomorrow to get a day or two ahead on my content questions so I can dedicate more of the day to reading and reviewing the text rather than searching for the answers to the specific questions I'm assigned.

We just finished the renal system and we're jump into cardiovascular stuff right away on Monday. I want to say I'm learning a lot, but I suppose we'll see how much I actually retain once we're into clinicals in January.

I seriously need to do more running tho... may actually help me keep the sane. ;)