Preceptorship

I started working with my preceptor today. I have one word to say about that. BORING!!! Maybe it will be better on Friday. It was a slow day and all I did was follow her around, give a few meds, and help the secretary take orders off charts. But Friday I actually get a couple of patients. It will be something kind of new, because these are surgery patients. I'm used to taking care of hearts. And I get to do 10 hour shifts instead of 8. That way I can get my hours in sooner than I thought. My preceptor is an RN who works on the same floor I used to work on. I knew who she was but didn't know that much about her. She really knows her stuff. And she's actually nice! My instructor came by for a surprise visit just to make sure I was there, I guess. Anyway, it's gonna be really busy the next 7 weeks, because I can't work except when my preceptor is there, and she doesn't work all my days off and I can't work too late when I have early class the next morning. But I bet this semester is going to fly by. They made the passing score on state boards higher, so that means that my test will be harder than it's ever been. Everybody please pray for me.
OH!!! WONDERFUL NEWS!!! Remember Florence from my church that I requested prayer for? She went to the doctor and he told her that her cancer is almost gone. PRAISE GOD!!! She's still going to take a couple more months of chemo. She's on cloud nine.
AIN'T GOD GOOD?!?!?!?!

A HAPPY BLOG!!

There is a marine I have been praying for. He served 2 tours in Iraq. He was back in the US for 8 hours (hadn't even gotten home yet), when he ran out into the street to catch a football and was hit by a car. He suffered extensive brain damage. That has been over a year ago. Last night, he wrote his name by himself without anyone helping him. That is a major milestone. He watches football, recognizes his mother, and points to things he wants. He has come so far!!

I NOW HAVE WATER!!! My yard is still torn up because it got dark the other day and he didn't have time to get the water line covered up. Then yesterday it rained all day. So maybe today he'll be out to do it. He worked so hard and did it all by himself. I felt sorry for him because he did the work on Saturday and couldn't find anyone to help him. But I guess he's done it before and I'm sure it won't be the last time. Now maybe I can clean my house again. I had just scrubbed the floors when the pipes burst. Now I'll have to do it all over again, because I haven't been able to mop since then. But that's okay. I HAVE WATER!!1

Still No Water

Day number 6 with no water. I'm really starting to stink now. LOL I go to my mom's to take a shower, etc. I have bottled up some water for rinsing stuff out, brushing my teeth and stuff like that. The guy came out yesterday to fix the water, which he did, got paid and left. But by the time I got home from school, water was bubbling back out through the concrete in another spot. I had already lit the gas on the water heater and was looking forward to a nice, hot shower. He came back out today and we are going to have to have a whole new water line put in. The leak is in another place. He's coming back tomorrow to do it, and it's guaranteed for 25 years. It's really pricey, and I wish I had the energy to dig and do stuff like that. It sure would save me alot of money. But since I can't do it, and Doug's in no shape to do it, I guess I'll run up another credit card. I'll NEVER see the light of day again. But at least I'll be clean and well hydrated. Hopefully I can get things taken care of and not ever have to worry about that again. We'll see...

Tests and Water Leaks

Well, yesterday was the first day of class. What else but a math test on the first day? I'm pretty sure I passed, but they haven't posted the grades yet. I had about 30 pages to read for tomorrow, then a bunch more for Tuesday. It's not like last semester, when it was one class. It's two separate classes and there are separate reading assignments for each class. Talk about a bummer!
Monday night I was doing laundry and I noticed the water pressure was low. Then when I took a shower, it was low there, too. So I went to the basement, where it floods everytime it rains anyway, and it had been raining, so I paid no attention to the wet ground. I didn't see anything unusual. At 3 am I heard water when I went to the kitchen to get a drink, so I went back to the basement. There was about 4-6 inches of water that I had to wade through. I got a flashlight and there was water pouring in through the wall. So I went to the water meter and cut the water off. I thought the water heater was busted. The water heater is fine. We called a plumber, he cut the water off to the inside of the house and turned it back on at the meter. Wow! You should have seen the little red thingy spinning! Which means the leak was underground, probably under concrete. So we had to call somebody else to find the leak. He found it and dug it up. The pipe is corroded! Has a big hole in it! But...he's not a plumber, all he was doing was locating the leak. So now, we have to go ANOTHER night without water. The plumber will be here in the morning to fix the leak. So much for paying off my bedroom suite with my scholorship money! It cost $250 just to find the leak, and it's going to cost over $600 to fix it. I'll be glad when I start making good money and I won't have to put everything on credit cards. So maybe I'll get VA checks started coming back in and start paying on that bedroom suite. If I have a rich relative out there somewhere, and you just happen to read this, HELP!!! Have a wonderful day and I'll post again later...hopefully.

End of Vacation

Today is Saturday. School starts back on Tuesday. I don't want to go back. But it's only 3 1/2 months. I have so enjoyed being at home with Doug without having my nose stuck in a book or doing homework. It will be worth it in the long run. It's going to be a rough start, because I have to work 90 hours with another RN without pay. It's called preceptorship. I have 7 weeks in which to do that. And the RN I'm working with only does 8 hour shifts, so that means 12 shifts in 7 weeks. This is on top of classes, tests, homework, and projects. This semester is probably the one that makes or breaks people. I am determined it won't break me. I have come too far to let it get me now. So sometime in April, be expecting an invitation to my pinning ceremony. Because I WILL make it. Wish me luck, and I guess I won't be posting many blogs until May unless this semester is easier than I think it will be. I want to thank everybody for their support and faith in me. You just don't know how much it has helped. I love you all.

Back As A Brunette

Okay, I really liked the hairstyle and how it looked on me, but last night was the last straw. My head started itching (actually, it felt like little needles sticking in my head), and I kept pulling on the hair, I got up at 1am and took a shower and washed it, I scratched and scratched until my head was sore, and the needles were still there. I woke Doug up and begged him to please help me get it out. We got it started, but it was so slow we would still be working on it and not be halfway done yet. So I called my place of work, and Anna and Debbie took scissors and a scalpel and got the hair off the braids. But the needles were still there. It was the braids that was causing the trouble. Shannon at work got the braids out, and turns out, where I had scratched and pulled on my hair so much, I had made sores in my head. But I feel so much better. I can't understand why it took 5 days for it to do that. Maybe it was nerves, I don't know. But my head feels 100% better. I will never get another weave. I think the braids were too tight. But I loved the hairstyle so much, I'm already looking for a wig with that style. So far I haven't had any luck. From now on when I want a new hairstyle, if I don't have a wig like it I'll go to a beauty shop, and ask them if they can fix my own hair like that. I'm going to see about getting color and a perm like that, but I can't do anything until the sores heal. So I'm back to my ugly self, but I'm happy with ugly me right now. I told Doug I was sorry I wasn't pretty anymore. It was nice being pretty for a few days, but not worth the suffering I endured last night. Some people can wear weaves with no problem. I guess I'm just not one of them. Oh well...Look out wig stores, here I come.

Visit from Gerry and Justin

I had a good day visiting with my sister Gerry and her grandson, Justin. He's so grown up. He's only 2 years old, but looks and acts like he's about 3 or 4. He's such a good baby. We went to Walmart and out to eat at Cracker Barrel, then came back to the house and had a good long visit til about 8pm, when they had to go pick up his mom, Kelli, from work. Of course, I made pictures, and like I said in an earlier post, I can make them smaller, but can't take the photo bucket stuff out. Tomorrow, I'll be going to Mary and Sandy's mom's, Lillian, to give everyone their Christmas presents. Can't wait for Mary and Bucky, and Sandy and Robert to open theirs. I just hope they like it. Anyway, here's pictures of Justin:
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Isn't he handsome?
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Justin with Nana:
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Playing peekaboo and looking drunk:
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Kissing a stuffed cat:
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Wanting Nana to kiss the cat:
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I really enjoyed the visit. We had a good time, at least I did. Thanks for coming, Gerry and Justin. We'll have to do it again real soon.

New Hair

Well, I did it. I guess I'll try just about anything once. I got a weave put in my hair. It actually looks halfway decent. It's not as long as I thought it would be, I wanted it long enough to pull back in a pony tail. But it's not quite that long. But it's curly. It's also lighter than I wanted, but I'll get used to it. It looks darker in the pictures. I finally figured out how to make the pictures smaller (thanks to Sandy), but it shows some stuff from the photo bucket. Sorry 'bout that. So now I'll share them with you. You make your own decision:
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