Short & Sweet

Took that blasted test today & i just KNOW i failed it. So here's what i got for ya'll.....http://www.barefooters.org/

Only 2 more days

And i am still not happy with my progress. I now have 3 darned books on taking this NCLEX_RN and i am not doing so hot on the practice tests. I have come to surmise that i just dont get what answer they want when it comes to delegation & planning, and they are just plain confusing as to the explanation of the answer. One time it says always choose "assess" first, the 2 questions later they say assess comes second.The whole drop & drag thing throws me off too.
Like it will say to prepare something then check equipment safety, but another question will be the the opposite.
I dont mind the math questions, got them down. And i am getting a little better with meds(not great, by any standards) . I guess whatever will be , will be.
I ran my second outdoor run yesterday- went a different route trying to find the best one. It turned out to be about 2 miles(i checked it this morning in my car). Ok, gotta run- i had to turn this kid, and of course now he will be awake the rest of the night. Glad i took off tomorrow - i'll not get much studying done tonight again, as usual for this case.
Sionara!

Zoom, Zoom!

I know..it's been a few days since i posted. So , just an update.
I spent saturday the 4th at a nice little cook out with some friends and consumed not only a large slice of cheesecake, but an entire bottle of wine by myself. I really felt that the next day.
Sunday i got groceries and went for an awesome motorcycle ride. It was the first time i went 120 mph in over a decade!the last ride we barely hit 100!spent about an hour at pinchot park where i hadnt been for about 1oo years and that was nice too.
Everyday Adventure:And then today(drumroll , please!) ...i went for my first outdoor run.I went approx. 2 miles or so including hills! and on pavement!But i have to admit, i had to walk part of the 2 steeper hills. still including that, i went a total of 2.8 miles.
On the downside, i have had terrible allergies for the past two days and it (along with poor sleep) have really been hindering my study activities. My head wants to explode, my nose is dry , runny, and irritated and my eyes feel like they're gonna pop out any second.i've taken claritin, flonase, and astelyn nose spray along with coating my nostrils with petroleum jelly & i swear, i'm still miserable.
If this keeps up past weds, i'm cancelling my test and going to the doctors(in case it's a sinus infection).
I'm still studying, but i am not retaining as much as i could if i had slept and felt better.I dont wannn lose $300 by failing over it.
At any rate, i am still having daily Funfactors by locating different 5k runs in the area and measuring distances of places i can potentially run outdoors. I also noted today that it doesnt really cool off til after 7:30, not 7, so i'll have to adjust my schedule.
I'm still not doing very well on my practice tests, but i got a 72% today which is up from the 68%.
This weds . i will be having lunch with my daughter to discuss upcoming wedding plans. And then, saturday, i am having dinner with an old high school friend that i havent seen in 20 years!!I am so excited- she & I had the most fun i've ever had in my life with anyone while i was growing up. I'm so glad i joined Facebook at times.
Asta la vista!

Sleepless Burning

Another day with very little sleep. Add to that alot of reflux(more than my usual) and here i sit at work.Eyes feel like they wanna fall out & my esophagus crying out for relief.I am uable to fathom why i can only seem to sleep 4 or 5 hours most of the time. If i could sleep for 7-9 hours a day, i'd definitely be a better person.
I think it is a sign from above that i need to :
1. give up coffee
2.exercise outside more(fresh air)
3.drink more water

At the moment, i only have 8 more days left til the test and i'm not retaining much study info. at night when i'm this foggy. So i anticipate i'll increase my sleeping pill dosage a bit for the short term.

Met 2 goals today - i actually found a few great sites listing 5k runs /races in the area . I'll be exploring those areas for practice runs as well. The other thing i accomplished was drinking 3 whole bottles of water today. This is HUGE for me since it's usually a struggle to get one bottle in. But i've been persistant.If i can get at least 3 i'll be happy!
Shalom!

A Few Lessons

After re-reading a few old posts i notice that i have forgotten about FunFactors & Everyday Adventures for quite some time now. This is quite a reflection on my life in general, i guess.
When i started this blog , i had plenty of ideals that i wanted to express, different changes i wanted to make , and goals i wanted to accomplish. Then the countdown to my clinicals happened, followed by the recent studying for my NCLEX-RN.
The other day , i glanced outside my window (instead of looking up from outdoors)at the moon & stars and started wondering why i havent had the time to enjoy the night sky like last year, when my entire reason for starting the blog was to simplify, grow, appreciate more, slow down, and have more because of less.
Some of the reasons i came up with (in addition to the clinicals and test) had to do with my daughter moving in and the difficulties my son has been giving me in his senior year of high school.
Now that my daughter has moved out, and my son has graduated and will be moving out in the fall, i anticipate that i can begin anew with my pursuit of happiness.
Starting with my vacation, at the very least.
But first, a few lessons i've learned so far.
1. "You teach people how to treat you"- In other words, if you keep bailing someone out,or letting someone disrespect you, or you wait hand & foot on everyone- this is what you are "training" them to expect. And they will live up to those expectations.
2."Growth spurts are usually followed by a period of stagnation"-i went through one (spiritually) for about 5 months, then all of a sudden i felt like i was in the void. It drove me crazy, and i couldnt pin it to anything. Then, i realized that , over the years, there has always been a pattern . And that for each up , there's a down- yin & yang, etc.It helped, because now i know there will be another growth period in the future, so i neednt be depressed!
3.That some of my ideas won't work out- for instance, i have gone back to wearing watches after i forgot it or lost it several times. i need this item for work, and wearing it daily was the only realistic solution.But that's ok too, because some of my other ideas worked really well.Like giving up the blonde highlights- saved money, time, my hair , and the hassle.
4. That many times what is perceived as rejection is only that- a perception . And usually, after a while, the lightbulb comes on to reveal something about the situation that was overlooked or buried under an emotional reaction. For instance- the Facebook girl i posted about-it dawned on me that it was only her "failure to launch" that kept her from being my friend, and it wasnt really about me per say.And another thing- remenber i fretted over my social networking page not being as "busy" as others? I realized one morning it's because i'm not on it all day , off & on , like those people.Therefore i don't have "all day" conversations.
So there, how's that for growth?
I 've come a long way, baby. So here we go again.
FunFactor: Throwing food into my compost pile or garbage disposal instead of the trash. i dont know why, but just helping the environment like that thrills me.Everyday Adventure:Looking for roads to jog on , driving around clocking the mileage from point A to B, excited about running that 5 k in the fall!!!
And,By the way, this is my second post of the day...i'm on a roll!!!
Namaste!

More Teen Trouble

Well, today was exciting. Found out my son had taken my husbands car without permission to pick up his girlfriend one morning when i was sleeping & hubbs was at work. Then on top of that , he lied about it when confronted. I left the discipline up to my husband on this one, and he got away with a pretty light sentence of 3 weeks without seeing his girlfriend and having to do extra chores when my husband tells him to.
Right now, we have a friend of his staying at our house for a week because his apartment got flooded out & he has no where to go. The kid seems nice, if a bit slow. I certainly hope THIS doesnt become an issue, but it wasnt my decision on either thing. I've decided to go with the biblical reference to allowing the husband to be the head of the household.Less stress on my part.
Dont know why i fought it all these years.
This is yet another way i can simplify my life.And i am finding God's way much better than my own.I do have a friend who , i am sure , will find some way to disagree with some of this because you gotta be "in it" to understand.You gotta have a family, children of your own, and have been married for years to "get it".
Plus, it really helps to have a personal, not just doctrinal, relationship with God.
On another note, i am having sleep difficulties again and cannot figure out how to stabilize my continuous insomnia. I slept til 5:30 yesterday & it was wonderful. Today, i woke at 12:30, and couldnt fall back asleep. It sucks, and i am tired.
I tried getting rid of caffeine before with little difference. i only drink 2 -3 cups when i get up , none after 7pm. I 've tried everything it seems....sigh.

The graduation luau

After this somewhat long haitus from blogging, i am pleased to report that i am back with some fabulous photos of the event.We all had a good time. the only downside was the absence of a girlfriend who was supposed to be there and kept texting every hour or so to say she'd be late, later, and finally it got to be so late i told her to just forget it. I was pretty upset about it. After all, it's much more considerate to just say you can't make it than to overschedule yourself and then disappoint.

Oh well, i 'm so over it. But at this point i have decided the friendship is just going to be another drain on me so i need to end it. The problem is how to do it without confrontation, or drawing it out by being evasive. I hate game-playing so i am asking a few other real friends for some advice. One of them didnt have much advice to give so i will move on to the 3 other friends to see what they say.

Onward & upward....i am on the countdown to my state boards on July 10th.I have been having to lug a huge & heavy book into work to read pharmacology , and care of the complicated & uncomplicated newborn. These seem to be the areas i am bad at. There are some others that arent too great at this point but i figure if i improve on these areas, i will improve my overall score.I will probably take 2 more of the 3 hour practice tests before the date and spend the night before cramming study cards.Like before, i have to just accept that if i fail, i will reschedule & try again. You have to wait 90 days .
A lot of people are asking what i plan on doing after i pass & get my RN status.My plans are to not actually apply anywhere until after vacation in September because there's usually a probationary period where you can't call off or take days off. So i want to avoid any problems. After that time i plan on applying at Hershey Med's NICU, Holy Spirit Hospital , and Carlisle Regional Hospital.The latter two are very close and Hershey is a GREAT teaching hospital.

Will keep posting as time draws nigh.

As for soon-to -be posts: i will be exploring reasons as to why my life has changed so much this past year, and also posting on my progress with jogging/running. So far i have gone from :

---jogging at 4 mph for 1 mile 3 times a week to

---5 mph for 1.5miles at 1% incline 3 times per week.

My goal is to run a 5k by September.

Any suggestions related to topics in this post are welcomed and appreciated!!!