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:

March 30 - April 5

March 30 – April 5 (Sorry for the weird formatting, I don't know why it's happening but 20 unfruitful minutes is all I care to spend on fixing it :) )

Sunday March 30: We had a really great lesson by Erica on the First Vision. I loved how she talked about the different versions Joseph wrote in his life, and her opinion of why they differed. Everyone took Sunday naps after church, which was wonderful :) McKay, Tyler, and Jamie went to the park in the afternoon. And me? Studying, studying studying. Jamie found a pair of my heels and had a ton of fun trying her best to stay upright.

Tuesday: Jamie was sick again at night, and kept us up most of it, meaning poor McKay’s day off was tired and grumpy, and my Concepts test taking was not great. Concepts lecture was on taking care of terminal patients. At this point, we were all feeling such doom over the test we had just taken that we just stared at the lecturer with blank, hopeless eyes. She started laughing at us mid sentence. It turned out I got an 86 (WHAT!), which was wonderfully unexpected. I agonized over each answer, and the longer I spent on the questions, the more confused I got. Nursing test questions are not about which answer is correct, because they all are correct. It’s the MOST correct one that you want, the highest priority and most imperative action to take. It’s just so hard, guys.

Wednesday: Assessment lab on Eyes. When I picked up Jamie from school, her teacher, Ms. Martin told me how much better Jamie is doing in school this semester, that she talks and plays with the other kids and has a really good time, that having that extra day in school each week. I am so glad. I have a lot of guilt dropping her off on her school days, but I have noticed lately that she doesn’t get sad about school in the mornings. She gets really really excited! McKay went to another opera alone, Barber of Seveille. And…..drumroll…..I studied at home. I had to tell the YW leader that I am officially taking my Wednesday nights back from Mutual until the semester is over. She was really great about it. She’s a businesswoman, and knows how crazy life can be.

Thursday: Rainy, humid day. McKay stayed home sick from work, but sadly, that doesn’t mean he got a day off. That only means I get another full day to STUDY! I left in the morning after giving him a practice full body assessment (down to 45 minutes! Just 10 more to shave off!), then went to the hospital to get my patient info, then off to campus to study Pharm for five hours. Finally, home to see my family. Tyler ran almost 1 ½ miles in running club, I am so proud of him! We’re looking at signing up for a kids 1K for him to run in, and he is ecstatic. I spent the evening writing up my preclinical paperwork and charting for my assessment lab. Day ended with a huge storm that was even bigger up in Denton. My friend sent me a picture of the baseball sized hail that fell outside her house: CRAZY. I am so glad we don’t live up there, Denton seems to be a storm/tornado magnet. Tyler was so so excited to watch the wind that night, it took him quite a while to actually sleep.

Friday: Clinical, first day giving meds. I had a great time on the floor, my nurse was a riot. The nurses had a birthday party while we were there on the floor, and we got to see a few of our old patients from weeks past that were still on the rehab floor. Sad to see them still there, but excited to see them again anyway! Tyler’s teacher Ms. Hobson came over during carline pickup to tell me how awesome Tyler had been doing in school, and that he’s reading at a 1^st grade level now! I am so proud of my kids this week. Tyler and I spent a long time looking at funny cat pictures while Jamie got her Yo Gabba Gabba fix after cleaning her room.

Saturday:  I got to listen to a bit of conference, but not much of it. Instead, I had an interesting day trying to study while also spending time with the kids. After watching them march around on my Pharm notes for a while, I started sending them on Silly Missions to get at least 30 seconds of reading in before they’d be back. I had them run out to the backyard, touch the back fence, and then run back. Or run to the dining room, play me a song on the piano, and the run back to me. Run to the living room, sing “Let It Go”, and then run back. This actually kept them busy for the better part of an hour, and I ended up getting quite a bit of work done. For lunch, I took them to this amazing Zoo themed playplace to get a bit more reading in.They loved it, and I loved seeing my reading list tick down and down in length. That night McKay went to this free concert near Reunion tower to see the Killers.

I am so despondent that fun things are not for me for the next month. I miss life. I spent the night studying and making flashcards until close to 3AM. I noticed that as conference weekend has been going on, there have been a lot of people apologizing on the OW facebook page for any past hostility. It was pretty amazing to see everyone remembering that we are still brothers and sisters even when we fundamentally disagree. Unfortunately, this was happening in the wee hours of the morning, I was stressed out of my mind about school, AND I was listening to Jean Valjean's soliloquy: 

“He said I have a soul -- how does he know?” I was a weepy mess, I can tell you that.

Those pictures, you guys. I know many of you don’t agree with any of OW's points or suggestions at all, but these issues have been in my heart since I was little. I was that annoying 8 year old in Primary Sunday School class asking why only the dads give blessings. It does my soul good to see dialogue opening up, even if it is in exasperated tones :)

Funny Things:

Me: (On the way to school) "Oh no, Tyler you forgot your jacket today!"Tyler: (Reaching into his backpack) "Hold on to your hat, Mom!" And he pulled his jacket out of his backpack.

On the way home from school one day, Tyler and Jamie were arguing.Tyler: Jamie, you are a frowny girl!

Jamie: NO!Tyler: You have a frowny face, and you are being RUDE.Jamie: NO!Tyler: "YOU HAVE TO TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN!!!"

Tyler: "Mom, did you know that when you are cold, you get little bumps on your skin and your hair goes up, and it is called moose bumps?

March 23 - March 29

Sunday March 23: Melanie gave a very sweet lesson on adversity and using the atonement, and one of the laurels spoke up about feeling alone at school because her well meaning friends don’t want to make her feel weird about their risqué behavior, and so they just don’t call her to hang out. Because of that, she ends up home alone a lot of the time, and it has been very hard on her. I thought it was brave and sweet of her to share that in class, and we (the leaders) are on call for weekend plans with this girl, if she needs a dollar movie night, or a frozen yogurt run. We had our home teachers over, and then much studying.

Monday March 24: Assessment class was all about the Musculoskeletal system. Jamie got a fun Easter Egg cookie from Miss Martin.

After we all got back home, I enlisted everyone's help to make a whole bunch of breakfasts to freeze, because we have had too many mornings lately with Tyler being sent off to school with a piece of bread for breakfast. We made Healthy Egg McMuffins, French toast sticks, and Pancake bites. I am just hoping that the kids will eat any of it :)

Tuesday March 25:  Pharm lecture was on antilipedemics and obesity, which was incredibly sobering. Our Concepts was on Lab Diagnostics, which seemed interesting, but with Jamie keeping me up all night long in and out of her bed, I was fighting hard to stay awake the entire three hours.

Wednesday March 26: After assessment lab I went out to lunch with some friends from school at a fun pizza place in Deep Ellum called Kane Russo. The chef there makes these amazing pizzas, and is so insulted at the idea of ranch on his pizzas that he has banned outside ranch from the restaurant, and will sell you a bottle of ranch for $1000. It's created a stir in Dallas, and there was a filming crew there while we were eating. I think the funniest review on reddit was this: I wish mark cuban would walk in, drop a grand on the table, dump the whole bottle of ranch on a pizza, and walk out. We got Tyler’s report card, and he tested in the 90 percentile on all his state testing this last quarter. We’ve been working on his math pretty hard this last few months because he tested low before Christmas, and it has paid off! I am so darn proud of him, and he is rightfully proud of himself. As a reward from the school, he got two Free Dress wrist bands to use whenever he wants.

McKay got to go to the opera tonight, but I was lame and stayed home to study instead. Five more weeks until normal life comes back to me!

Thursday March 27: Thursday was a dentist visit for Jamie, who proved to be a tough little cookie. She did so much better than Tyler ever does at the dentist. She got another clean bill of health, and then an armful of toys and toothbrushes.

She and I had Elsa and Anna hair that day, but I forgot to take a picture of use together. She and I went to Hobby lobby right after and got this lovely birds on the wire picture,

and this amazing pig.

I can't get over this pig. Look at that smile on his face; he is so excited to have wings. Sometimes when I get overwhelmed/depressed about school, I just go over and look at this little pig on my mantel and it cheers me up :) Unfortunately, Jamie wasn't feeling great, and she ended up sick at Kroger. We went home right away and spent the rest of the day in jammies watching movies. I made McKay help me hang up my shelves, and I love how they look, but I'm not in love with it up on that wall. Maybe it will look better with things on the shelves?

Friday March 28: My clinical was canceled because my instructor was sick, and because Jamie was sick too, I had to cancel my group practice for Assessment checkoffs that was supposed to happen at my house. I had a big basket full of pumpkin muffins that I baked for the group just sitting there staring at me all the live long day. I ate many of them. Jamie and I hung out at home most of the day, watching shows and cleaning up. McKay got to come home early from work to give me a chance to go out and study for my upcoming Concepts test.

Saturday March 29:Jamie was feeling much better, and we were able to go to the baby shower for Katherine Madsen, this super sweet girl who used to live in Dallas, and is moving away to Palos Verdes in the next few weeks (LUCKY!).

We also hit up this awesome sale at Bath and Body works. I got 24 wallflowers and 4 plug in adapters for like $40, and my house smells amazingly lavender and vanilla-y. I promised Tyler and Jamie if they behaved, they could go see the water fountains at Northpark. 

That night, I drove up to Plano to meet all the Hinckley ladies for dinner at Olive Garden and then to watch the General Women’s meeting broadcast.

I have mixed feelings on the age being lowered to 8. On one hand, it was so awesome to see the intergenerational mix in the choirs, in the audience, and I loved that I got to attend the meeting with my MIL, SILs, and my young niece who just turned 8 this year. It was a whole Hinckley girl night with dinner at Olive Garden first, and it was AWESOME. On the other hand, there were a lot (A LOT) of women who, in addition to bring their 8 year old daughters to the meeting, just brought all the rest of their kids as well; toddlers, babies, preschoolers, and their sons of all ages too. Where we were sitting, it was almost like a sacrament meeting, just without any dads. I know that’s an unintended consequence, but it sort of cheapened the evening a bit. I wish there was a way around it that didn’t make it feel like it was just a night off for dads. I LOVED the choir number, and did you notice some of them were wearing purple? I don’t know if that is intentional, or coincidental, but watching women in purple singing about loving one another and showing a gentle heart to those with sorrow just left me in a soggy pile of warm fuzzies. I was so touched, even if it wasn’t their intention. But I felt so…heard. I felt like even if they disagree with me, they can still reach out to me and mourn with me. It was such a great, great moment. Then I made a fool of myself running around asking ladies if they were wearing purple on purpose. Each and everyone of them looked at me sort of confused, and said “No, why?” That’s when the panic would go off in my head: abort, abort! My sweet MIL wore a purple necklace in support of me and my fem friends, which I so appreciated J

Funny:

While at the opera, in the row behind McKay a guy opened a bag of popcorn during the show and was being noisy and annoying with the bag for a while during a quiet and reflective part of the song. A lady in front of the guy finally turned around and snatched the noisy bag out of his hand, and did not return it until intermission. Don't cross opera lovers, y'all.

Jamie loves going to the library each week with McKay, but she prefers to get books that she is familiar with. Our library is multilingual, and since Jamie doesn't quite read yet, she just goes for what's familiar. This is what we've got checked out right now:

Not a funny thing, but a fun thing. We picked up a jar of Nutella at Costco, and Tyler and Jamie are remembering why it's so great: