April 6 - April 12

April 6 – April 12

Sunday, April 6: April 12: McKay let me sleep in since I was up til 3 the night before studying. It was not a strong weekend for family traditions :( I was so busy studying for two huge exams and one big skills checkoff that I had zero time to do our normal Sunday morning session breakfast of cinnamon rolls and biscuits and gravy. We were at least able to watch GC in the morning was a family. Tyler had a blast conducting MoTab along with Mack.

But after lunch, I had to stay home and take advantage of the silent house to study. It makes me so sad that I missed the Hinckley get together for conference this time around, but it’s just the name of the nursing school game. Apparently there were gourmet burgers happening there, booo. Salt in the wound/twist the knife: more studying even after they got home.

Monday, April 7: We had our third assessment test. I studied until about 11 that morning, and then went to a tutoring session for a quick review before we all went in to take the test. I hate these days, where I leave before the kids wake up and get home after they’re asleep. Don’t tell them this, but sometimes on those days, I sneak into their rooms and sit quietly next to their beds and stroke their foreheads and kiss their cheeks and silently tell them that I miss them. Three more weeks! I can do this! 

Tuesday, April 8: Registration opened up, and I was able to secure a spot in a summer EKG course which is rumored to save your kiester for a subsequent class next year that is EKG heavy. A bunch of my friends got in as well! We had our pharm test this morning, so I was at school by 7, studying with friends until the last minute. Tyler was so sad I had left before he woke up, that McKay swung by the school on his way to taking Tyler to school so I could give him a hug and a kiss. It made both of us so happy :) The test was hard, but I felt better about it than I did about Assessment. I secretly spent the lecture finishing paperwork for the next class, which I then actually skipped out on and went to lunch with McKay and Jamie since I hadn’t actually seen anyone in my family since Sunday morning.

I found out later that day that I got an 84 on the Pharm test, and I am super happy with it! It was so hard, and asking around, I didn’t hear of any scores higher than 86.

Wednesday, April 9: We had our final Vitals check-offs, passed, whoooo! I practiced the final full body check-off and I am down to 36 minutes, which is down from 45 min, which was down from 90 minutes. This just might happen! I only need it under 35 minutes. And also to do everything right. And also to not forget anything (there are 96 steps).

Thursday, April 10: Donut day!

I had a zoo date with Jamie and some friends who drove down from Frisco. Jamie has a toy parrot named Jumper that she loves more than anything right now. You can imagine her excitement when she spotted these macaws at the zoo:

"JUMPER!! Don't bite your Jumper brother!!!"

We had two tickets for the carousal, and she planned ahead that she would ride on the "pretty horse" and "the birdie".

Tyler had running club; it was a pretty warm day, and he only ran 5 laps. He also got PURPLE! There was a mandatory ice cream date after school, as always on purple days.

McKay and the kids dropped me off at the hospital to pick up my patient info while they went to target to get sleeping bags for the Father Son camp-out. My stuff took longer than expected, so they somehow found a tiny grassy place in the middle of all that concrete in the medical district and ate pizza for dinner.

Once we were home, I worked on my clinical write-up for hours and hours, guys. Also, I finally found out about my Assessment grade, another 84! I am also happy with this grade. This test was so hard it was slightly ridiculous.

Friday, April 11: Clinicallllll! Next week is my last one of the semester. Guys, this patient was 50 shades of messed up. There were so many things wrong. I wish I could expound on that, but you’ll just have to imagine. My only advice is to be good to your children and your family members while you are well so that when you fall dreadfully ill, you will have people who want to take care of you. Tyler had his last Literary Luncheon of the year this morning, and my wonderful mother in law went in my stead.

Thank you!!! I gave myself some downtime after clinical ended as a reward for getting myself though this awful week. I went to Ross and got a few summery shirts for me, and then picked up the kids from their schools. McKay and Tyler left for their campout that night, and Jamie and I had a quiet girls night at home.

Saturday, April 12: With McKay and Tyler on the camp-out, Jamie and I tried to make it a Legoland day.

Unluckily, we had to share the car on our first ride there with another family, which resulted in a 15 minute long tantrum.

I had to make the unfortunate decision to cut the trip short. I was pretty bothered that we spent twice as much time driving there and back than we actually spent in Legoland, but I felt like I needed to be firm with Jamie. We went back home and had lunch, and she perked up by the time I pulled the quesadillas out. She wanted to have a “big lunch”, which to Jamie means a fancy lunch, with everything pulled out on the table: the milk carton, a side bowl for her fruit (not just on her plate), the whole napkin container, and a mug instead of a tumbler. We spent the afternoon trying to study while keeping Jamie busy. It did not work. McKay and Tyler came home around 4:30, and we all turned in pretty early. I practiced the full body checkoff once more after the kids went down, and I got it down to 30 minutes on the nose! I was so excited!

Funny:

• Jamie in the car: "We’re going faster than Bronx!
• Jamie loves LOVES Grandma's two cats, Baby and Fuzz. She affectionately calls Baby, “Baby Fuzz” and Fuzz, “Grown-up Fuzz”.
• Jamie was spending a lot of time quietly and contemplatively thinking while she looked out the car window. Finally, she turned to me and said quietly, "Mom...I think my favorite color is pink."
• Jamie calls quesadillas "case-of-dee-uhs".
• Tyler’s week has been so awesome! Three greens and TWO purples, y’all!
• And for your explosive enjoyment: