HaPpY ThAnKsGiVinG!!

Well!! I would like to say that I am up blogging @ 5:15 am on Thanksgiving because I am up putting some wonderful food in the oven, but that is not the case. Even though I went to bed well after midnight, I found myself unable to sleep...surprise surprise...lol
Insomnia isn't something new to me, especially upon entering nursing school, but I am sooooo tired of it! And bless Jeremy's heart because on my worst nights he doesn't sleep well either. I try to not bother him, but it's like he can sense it no matter how still I am. During one of his "awake" times in the night we both decided that we need to buy a new mattress set. I have tried to figure out exactly how old this set is, but I can't decide. I know we bought them some time before Dawson was born and he will be 6 in a couple of months. We bought a really nice set so I guess I was just thinking they should still be good....well actually I don't think I have ever given it much thought. BUT...I really do not want to buy a new set right now!! Jeremy wants to go buy new now, but I want to wait until I graduate. When we buy/build a house, I want to put a King size bed in our room instead of the Queen we have now. If we buy new now then we will just have to turn right around and buy new again. Jeremy points out that if we build that we could be on this mattress set for another year before we are in the new house with a new bed....that makes me feel good! We cannot put a King size in our room now because we just don't have room.
I also just could not shut my brain off last night...too many things I could think about...too many "to do" lists being organized in my head. Daniel, my 12 y/o, is not having a great year at school this year...basically one class. I won't get into all the details, but I have seriously thought about changing schools for him at Christmas. Not only for his sake.....but for mine. As I enter my last semester of school I know I will be stressed to the max. In addition to our classes (1 on campus and 1 online that we must take) and our normal clinical day (which includes a day of prep beforehand), we have to do 90 hours of precepting with an RN on her job. I am really looking forward to this, but it will require more time away from my family. I have chosen a great Nurse who got her degree a long time ago (don't know exact numbers, but I would say more than 15 yrs ago b/c she was a few years ahead of me in school and she went straight to school following her graduation). I also chose her b/c she works in the ER.....LOVE the ER. I had a couple of relatives who do precepting who would have been great, but we cannot precept with a relative and this time they were pretty strict about that. (Some have already asked me why I didn't pick one of them and it isn't because I didn't want to....lol) But back to Daniel...he has never had so much trouble at school...and it isn't behavioral. I don't want to get into it here....I have a wonderful friend who I know will offer me great advice...I have to call her!! I will before Monday. Dawson is in Kindergarten and all is good there...he does get on the yellow light occasionally, but he is the typical boy and really a few yellows don't bother me. Trust me, it could be A LOT worse!! Dawson is my rambunctious child...so inquisitive and curious. But he is soooo sweet! Gotta love him...yellow lights and all! My thoughts about Shelbey last night didn't go past the fact that I should have gotten her to Lyrica to get her hair trimmed before Thanksgiving! She has hair like mine and it is getting a little "fluffy" and needs a good trim. It's amazing how much her hair is growing since she gets a trim every 6 weeks or so. I know hair grows from the root and someone once told me that trimming it would not affect the growth rate...but she is proof that it does!
We still have 1 test and our Final left this semester so of course that has been on my mind. I started new reading in preparation last night. I hope I retained!! I feel like I have wasted a lot of time this week. Usually a day doesn't go by that I don't study or read something, but I haven't kept up this week. I have had an amazing case of vertigo and those of you have never suffered with this, let me tell you it is horrible!! You get this dizzy sensation...like the room is moving and you cannot orientate yourself to where you are. You also get nausea and sometimes vomiting because of the dizziness. I also had a huge headache! And...there isn't a miracle pill you can take to just cure it, (which I have learned that no matter what the sickness, there usually never is!), you just have to treat the symptoms. This had gone on since about Saturday and I think is getting better...don't want to jinx myself!! Lord I really hope so...several times this week I felt so bad with this that I didn't want to pick my head up off my pillow!
We did get our Christmas tree up last night...it isn't fully decorated, but we will finish it tonight...or maybe today before we go to my Mom's to eat. Dawson & Shelbey were ecstatic to get it up early. Last year I didn't put it up until after finals and I didn't want to do that again this year. Dawson and I went shopping Saturday and we bought this new tree to put up this year. My old one died Christmas 2006 and last year we used an extra Jeremy's mom had. I didn't want to buy anything spectacular (same reason as the mattress set...lol) so I got this 6.5 foot pre-lit....didn't give very much for it, and was so upset with myself for doing so at first! When we first got it up it was the most pitiful thing I had ever seen...Jeremy must have really felt bad for me because he did all this bending and fluffing of the limbs (he says you have to do this with every tree and he says he has always done it to our tree in the past..lol.....I believe him, but I am not the crafty type so if left to me it would not get done!)...anyways...he made it beautiful!
I think I have pretty much written a short story here....I guess I will hit the shower and get ready to run to Walmart.....I really despise this place and I would rather pay full price than to fight the crowds Friday....but I HAVE to get a few items so I want to just get down there and get it over with. Walmart just brings out the stupid in people and I usually leave there ready to pull my hair out (or someone else's ...lol).
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!

Just Haven't Blogged Lately!

Well I just noticed I haven't blogged anything in a while so I thought I might could come up with something....lol
I am so glad clinicals are over this semester! That means one more day out of the week to study for upcoming tests...PLUS I don't have all the paperwork to do. So I have really gained a lot of extra time that I really can use! I have class Tuesday then I am off until the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. In addition to getting some extra study time I am hoping to get some relaxation and maybe some Christmas shopping done. I remember last year I did not buy the first gift or even put up the tree until after finals....don't really know about when our tree will go up this year, but whenever it does, rest assured that Jeremy will be the one doing it! I thinks he likes to do it anyways.....he always puts the lights on and then helps the kiddos put the ornaments on. So what will it matter if he is the one that puts it together as well? :-)
I am having, or should I say Daniel is having a hard time with classes this year. I do not know what is going on, nor do I know what I should do to help him. We have tried just about everything short of changing schools and I don't know but what maybe we should try that next. But, that issue is driving me nuts!! Big time STRESS!! I won't go into any more details, but just say a little prayer for Daniel...he needs it!
I am looking forward to Christmas break as well....all of us at home will be great! Just not having to get up and get the children ready will be a nice break. Of course our break will be chopped full of activities so I know it will be busy. At least Jeremy is back to work in Fort Payne and on 1st shift...thank God for that! I am not sure what his Christmas & New Year schedule is, but I know he will be off a bit.
I have to be deciding who I want to precept with this Spring semester....3 different Nurses have offered...I just have to make up my mind where I want to precept. I have to choose a Nurse and work along with her on her shift for 90 hrs this next semester. This is in addition to our regular classes and our regular clinicals. Plus we have paperwork to go along with it. It really sounds like extra work, but I am looking forward to it. Not only do I need to decide what hospital I want to precept at, I have to decide what area of that hospital I wish to precept in. The three areas I am debating on is: ER, ICU, & the Med/Surg floor. I really want to go where is best for me...pray about that too!
I am off to bed! 5:30 will be here before I know it. Daniel has a BB game tomorrow night and there will be a pep-rally during the last period of school so my day will be cut short tomorrow. I will be so tired by the time I get into bed tomorrow night. Have a great week!!

Ahhhhhh!!

Yay! The weekend is here, bringing a very busy week to an end and allowing me some R&R. We had our 2nd test of the semester, which I did well on so that was good! We had our last "official" clincal this week...we have one more this upcoming wekk, but we don't have to do paperwork for it and it will be a short day. We don't have class this week b/c our class meets on Tuesdays and that is a holiday. Daniel had 2 BB games this week which is different than Saturday league...they are both during the week. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or bad. I had to make a quick trip to Chattanooga Friday for no good reason except to pay our car payment which is financed through a chain of banks that does not have any in AL. That was all crazy b/c I should have mailed it like I usually do, but I DID NOT HAVE A STAMP!! How crazy is that!?! Everytime I went to the Post Office it was closed for lunch and the little machines have been removed from the outer area. Jeremy pointed out that there are other Post Offices, but with everything else going on, I kept forgetting until I would be in bed at night. So in order to prevent it from being late and damaging our credit score, I just drove up there. I promise that won't happen again! What a waste of time and gas! Dawson was also sick this week. Nothing major, but he has these allergies that act up and end up causing a bacterial infection and he starts this coughing and wheezing. (BTW..that old wives' tale about putting Vick's Vapor Rub on your feet with socks to stop coughing actually works! We tested that several times this week!) I felt so bad for him b/c Halloween night he was asking me when he could go see Dr. Rimmer...he felt that bad! I have enoyed my day off...even though I sat here tonight after the AL game and finished all my paperwork. And ROLL TIDE!! They better get their booties in gear though...Lord knows we need a kicker! An OH! I forgot to even mention Election Day...I guess that's because I would really actually love to totally forget it. All I am going to say is God help us all and I hope Obama proves me wrong..(which I doubt seriously!) We had dinner last night to celebrate my friend Staphanie's birthday. (Love ya Steph!) We had a great time...even if I did do the cooking...or if Jeremy did...lol! Tomorrow I will start some reading to begin preparing for our 3rd and final test. It is still about a month away, but I would really like a 100 on this test (or @ least a 98...lol). I am off to bed...feels like it's about 2am to me!! I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!