As usual, I have been swamped with nursing school and trying to balance it all. That never works but it is a good effort. Anyway, I have been feeling guilty about not spending enough time with my boys, and so I decided not to any school work this weekend and just hang out with my kids. It may bite me in the butt this week on my exams but, well, it will be worth it. I'll stress out later.
Jansen spent Friday night with a friend, so when I went to pick him up, we picked up his friend as well to go with us to Froberg's Farm.
Wow...I have to admit, this was really fun. Froberg's is in Alvin, which is about a 30 minute drive from our house. This working farm is the same one where we went strawberry picking several years ago. In the Fall, they create a festival every weekend complete with a corn maze, hay ride, and a ton of other fun activities.
It cost $16 for the kids to get a wrist band for the hay ride and corn maze, plus it gave them 12 tokens. The tokens could be used for the flower picking, and any of the carnival games (face painting, duck races, bean bag toss, basketball hoops etc), and they had a ton of snacks available for purchase.
We arrived 15 minutes after they opened and got a front row parking spot, and we were able to get right on the first hay ride. We got to the corn maze, grabbed a map, and started to navigate this huge maze. Jansen started with the map and he got us right smack dab in the middle of the maze. So his friend Elijah took over with the map and he got us back to the start. Then Caleb took over and got us through the maze. It took a while, but it was really fun!
The boys actually wanted to go pick flowers from their garden, so the employees a pair of scissors and a solo cup and the kids went crazy. They picked some gorgeous flowers! It was nice to be out enjoying such a beautiful, cool day.
The kids played around with a few of the activities there and we took some more photos.
Then we hopped on the next hayride back to the main building. There, the kids bought drinks and sno cones, played a few games, and ran around. It was packed by that time so we headed into the farm store to pick out goodies. They had some much fresh produce to pick from, jams, jellies, fresh pies, etc. It was so nice. The kids picked out some squash and a couple huge pumpkins to decorate later.
It was such a nice day. It was totally worth the time away from my studies!!!!
Now that my boys are both in the same school again, it makes it a lot easier for us to participate in the theme days. Since it was their homecoming week, Clute Intermediate had a Spirit Week that my boys participated in.
Monday was crazy sock day. They did not participate.
Tuesday was Blue Out day.
Tuesday night was the homecoming football game and Caleb's first time to play in the band at a game.
Wednesday was Twin Day.
Thursday was Favorite Team Day.
Friday was Super Hero Day.
Fun times to have them both be able to participate at the same time :)
This weekend, the hubs and I were able to get away for a quick overnight trip to go see Hall and Oates. I was wearing my Private Eyes shirt, full on makeup, and was ready to go!
We love Hall and Oates. At dinner we made bets on how many songs we thought we WOULDN'T know. I chose 3, Josh chose 2, and in the end...we were only unfamiliar with 1 song!
On the way to Houston, we stopped in Pearland to eat at Red Robin. Dang, that place is delicious. The only down side is that I really wanted to eat some of their fried pickles. They use pickle spears and I love their batter. Unfortunately, they no longer make them. Sigh....But my meal was incredible.
Once in the Woodlands, we checked in at the Holiday Inn and immediately tried to take a nap...because that's how we roll. When we don't have children or dogs, we try to nap. Their beds are super comfy.
After freshening up, we drove over to Market Street to do a little shopping. Josh wanted to find a new shirt from Tommy Bahama and thankfully, we found a really nice one. We then went to eat at Jasper's for dinner. Another delicious meal and a great atmosphere. Our server was really helpful and the food was great!
We found some free parking pretty close to the pavilion and took a relaxing walk down the water way. It was still pretty hot but there was a nice breeze going.
We had really good seats!
I have to say, this was the shortest concerts I have ever been to. They packed a ton of hits into a small amount of time though. Hall and Oates came on stage a little after 8pm and we were walking out at 9:45pm. I could have listened for another hour or so. They were so great!
It was really nice to have some time away, just me and my husband. This was our 3rd date all year!!! We just don't see each other enough, and it puts a strain on us both. We need to work harder to make more time for each other. But, I am thankful for what I can get!
With me being in nursing school/clinical all day, and my husband
being on graveyards, and his birthday being on a Wednesday, I haven't
seen him all week. I wanted to at least have something done up for him
when he came home that morning, even though I was already gone.
Tuesday night, the kids and I started decorating the kitchen and baking some cupcakes for him.
It turned out pretty cool.
This
weekend we will celebrate as we are headed to the Hall and Oates
concert and will be staying in Houston overnight. Yay for a getaway!!!
Just about 10 weeks left in the semester. I am not counting the blessed week we get off for Thanksgiving since the professors have assured us that clinical and all paperwork other than our Med Surg final will be completed by Thanksgiving.
This week was the first week of clinicals. This semester, we are seeing much more variety in experiences, which I am really enjoying. Basically, my schedule for the year is Monday and Wednesday for clinical and Thursday for class. I can't complain about three days a week, but the amount of work we have to get done....I feel like I am in school 6 days a week.
First week, I was spending one day in the Operating Room and one day in the Emergency Room. I loved it. The shifts were long, but it was a fantastic experience. I was able to practice some of my skills, and even though I blew an elderly lady's vein trying to start her IV, I totally got another elderly lady's IV! Those are the ones that I am scared of the most. Elderly patients have tiny veins.
I must say, I really loved ER. It kept my ADD in check with a constant rotation of patients, questions, concerns, and skills. I would LOVE to precept there. I'm going to start praying now that I get UTMB ER. Please, Lord.
Now, I was so exhausted from the clinical this week, that by the time my next test rolled around on Thursday, I bombed it. I sat at the computer taking the test and just could not remember what I studied for the life of me. It was like I had dementia. Looking at the question, I found myself reading it over and over again and not even understanding the question....and it wasn't a super difficult exam. Looking back over it afterwards, I have no idea why I answered many of them the way I did. I just need to get into a groove of balancing clinical, all the paperwork, and studying for these exams. I mean, this test was the very first one I have ever failed in nursing school.
I got a 70...which in the regular world is passing....but anything less than 75 in nursing school is failing. It just burns me up that I let myself fail an exam...that overall, was not that difficult.
So, our professor has been sending us test blueprints, which I have never completed until this year. The past three tests, I have completely and studied only the blueprint. It's not a format that I learn well using. I learn best studying on my own, creating my own charts and notes, and just reviewing those. So from now on out....I'm going back to how I learn best. Let's see how that goes.
Tomorrow starts clinical week #2....and I have a home health and hospice rotation. I am SO looking forward to this week, even though it is going to be so busy. There's no exams this week and so there is joy in my heart!
Ok, so We have just completed 3 weeks of the Fall semester with about 12 weeks left. After we had a syllabus review this past week, we found out that all clinical and course work should be finished by Thanksgiving break with us to return just for finals. Well that is music to my ears.
This semester has already been extremely difficult. We are taking two semesters worth of Med Surg this Fall, it's moving very quickly, and we are having weekly exams. So far, I have not done so well. I am quite used to getting mostly A's with the occasional B, but on the first two exams, my grades are 78 and 82. Ouch.
In order to stay in the program, you must have a 75 exam average. I really need to be studying more, I guess. That paired with the online assignments makes for a busy semester. Then comes simulation lab and clinical. We only have the first two week's worth of clinical scheduled since they are still working on permission for a few locations but next week I will be at UTMB surgery and ER followed by 2 days of home health based out of a private company and our local hospital. I'm cautiously optimistic about the experiences but a little worried about the amount of paperwork that has to be completed for each clinical day. I'm sure it will all work out in the wash, but boy I am ready for this semester to be over already.
Last Thursday, our group got together to take a photo. I think they turned out pretty good.
This one was in the lobby of our building...
And this one is to compare to last year's photo...
The top photo is our Junior photo from last year and the bottom photo is our Senior photo.
I also ordered my pinning ceremony dress, so I have it hanging in my bathroom as a reminder and motivator to keep going....graduation is only 8 months away...and I need to lose some weight to look my best.
I am so ready to get my license and officially be a Registered Nurse!!!
This weekend, we celebrated my husband's grandfather's 85th birthday.
He lost his wife of over 60 years last year and recently moved into an assisted living facility. It has been a fantastic move for him. This place is like a cruise ship. They have games, exercise classes, field trips, food, and fun.
It is wonderful to see how happy he is there. He goes walking every day, he took up yoga a few times a week, his lady friend neighbor helps him take care of his plants on the patio, he is getting 3 square meals a day, his laundry is done for him, his apartment is cleaned for him, they remind him to take his medication, and he is making friends.
Yay!
