whiskey tango foxtrot

Make an acronym out of the the title and you have the kind of expression I thought to myself as I looked for my car this afternoon upon leaving the hospital after orientation.

I was extremely excited. We'd had a great day, and I was off to go have my Tb test site checked, then on to get a much needed pedicure. After changing in the bathroom I set out for the parking lot. To understand my story you should understand that the hospital sits up on a hill, surrounded by other buildings and there are parking lots at varying levels. The roads leading up to the hospital wind around so you don't have a straight shot at viewing a whole road in its entirety.

When I arrived this morning I made the first right and parked in what was probably illegal parking as it was, but as I still wasn't sure about where employess are supposed to park I thought it better than the spot where I parked yesterday. Leaving the hospital after orientation I walked down, and turned left into what I thought was the same lot from this morning. As I'm approaching where I was quite certain my car would be, I realized it was not there. I spent a few minutes searching, to include with the use of the alarm button on the car remote. Nothing...

It occured to me that I'd really messed up, parking in an illegal spot, and had been towed. Back to the hospital I went, where security was called to come and help me. The security guard walked back out with me. He asked if I was sure I'd parked there and not the lot below. So as we're walkng he asks what kind of car I drive, and I respond with the make and model. Sure enough it's not there!

So we keep walking down to the other lot.

He saw it first.

I thanked him and apologized profusely and off he went back to the building.

Really, I'm thinking I now know what dementia is like first hand! At the very least I know how Jessie and Chester felt..."Dude! Where's my car!"

Ahem...

So that topped off my first week of second year! I left after regaining my composure from laughing at myself, and went and had my Tb test checked. Then went for a much needed pedicure and it was one of the best I've ever had!

Speaking of first weeks, it was pretty good I'd say!

Monday was exhausintg. Tuesday was a lighter day, but I felt stressed as I thought I would never catch up on the reading. Yesterday we were oriented to the unit we will be doing clinicals on in our first rotation. Today turned out (aside from the parking lot debacle) way better than I thought it was going to upon realizing students from the other local CC would be doing clinicals right alongside our class! This is the first year they've had two schools doing clinicals at the same time. They've had externships where schools were mixed, but not clinicals.

Now, if you've followed my blog you know I'd thought about transferring. This other CC, where these other students are from, is the one I would have transferred to. I thought for sure they were going to be a bunch of know-it-alls making us look bad. We learned that that wasn't the case. After the hospitalschmospital orientation and a break the staff educator had us group up, after counting off by 6s. Therefore we were forced to integrate. I'm so glad they did that! It ended up being a great experience! Our group worked well together and came up with answers to our scenario without any problem. There was some stuff that they knew better, and some stuff we knew better.

I, of course, took the opportunity to ask some questions and am now even more happy with my decision to stay put. Sure there may be some things that are better about their program, but we have our own strengths as well.

Nobody is perfect!

seriously in need of a butt pillow

seriously...


All this sitting, and studying...sitting, and reading....sitting and doing drug calculations, leaves my hiney not feeling so finey!

My butt-tocks (think Forrest Gump) are screaming for some extra added cushion, which I don't understand. I didn't name me arse "Colorado" (it used to be "Texas" before I lost the weight) for nothing! The total lack of muscular tone probably has something to do with that.

Now we've come full circle. If I wasn't sitting on me arse so much maybe I could be working on toningi it up.

Have I mentioned I am in nursing school???

Seriously. It's a PITA! (pain in the a$$)

So, I'm thinking of getting a boppy (they're not just for breastfeeding, ya know!)...or maybe a bonafied butt pillow.

first day, second year

e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d.

Put a mortgage closing (because that's about how many papers we signed today), carrying at least 15 lbs in books, a steam roller, and shell shock together and you have moi, today the first day of my second year of nursing school.

Ever heard the phrase "I feel like I've been rode hard and put away wet"? Yeah, that about covers it!

We had clinical instructors come in and speak briefly on clinicals. We went over clinical schedules. We had our regular instructor fill us to bursting at the seams with information for this semester. We were yet again notified of the $183 we'd be paying for the ATI tests for this semester. We were notified that ATI tests would count for 5% of our final grade. Some of us were given letters of notification of vaccinations that were due. I have to do my PPD. We went over this year's edition of the nursing student handbook. We were told that board scores are up 10% from the last year's. We'll be the class to bring it even higher, we were told. We sat for lecture. We did get a few breaks, and an hour for lunch.

All in all, although it was an exhausting day, it was exciting. I was up at 0240, and it took a while to get back to sleep, so that doesn't help with the fatigue. I have to do some reading and signing papers I didn't get signed in class, along with the stuff the boys brought/bring home.

I can only hope to stay awake long enough to go to bed at a decent itme, and then maybe I'll sleep through the night...

...then on to day two!

last friday of freedom

Wouldn't ya know it, I logged onto Blackboard yesterday morning and low and behold there glaring back at me from the screen was the line-up of this Fall's classes. Instant panic, mortification, excitement, anticipation, all those radical emotions, consumed me like Cookie Monster eating some chocolate chippers. Because I share so well, and truly am a team player, I immediately logged onto Facebook and posted the news as my status message. Knowing some of my classmates are not on Facebook (for shame) I texted them so they could share in the morning's delight.

After next week, Labor Day Monday will be the only Monday that we do not have an exam until after final exams the week of December 14th. (Is it Christmas, yet??) We have two exams our second week. Mondays are our Principles & Concepts and the Maternal/Newborn class. The Monday exams flip flop between the two classes. There are five weeks where we'll also have an exam on Tuesdays, in our Health Assessment class. Dosage calculations will be combined into those exams. We have two case studies due later in the semester for P&C, as well as two assignments each for the other two classes. There is reference made to care plans in the syllabi, but nothing giving any specific information as to how many we'll have to do, or any other requirements.

I'm pleased with my clinical group assignment. The nineteen in my class from this past Spring are all returning and there are 7 LPN transition or wash back students joining us. One of them is in my clinical group. I hope all the new people mesh as well with our original group as we all have so far. We still have one male classmate, amongst all of us girls.

The clinical schedule looks like it will be interesting and provide us with some really good experience and learning opportunities. This semester we'll rotate through our local hospital as well as one that's in a neighboring county. My group only spends one week there (that being two days), which is fine with me since it is an hour or more away. We'll rotate through med/surg/telemetry/ortho and OB units where we'll receive hands on training. We'll also do observation only training in the ER, OR, PACU, radiology and other such places. We also do a peds rotation at a local pediatric clinic. It is also observation only.

As it is, today I am excited, yet still very anxious and nervous about this semester. I'm choosing to go in thinking as positively as possible. I'm even going in giving our instructor the benefit of the doubt. The primary second year instructor is the one from my mental health class who pretty much "taught" from PPTs that were straight from the book. I'm hopeful that she'll expand upon this year's material more than the MH material as she has more experience in the other areas.

Today I'm off to do some grocery shopping at my favorite place in the world (ha!), a military commissary. This evening the guys and I are going to see Inglourious Basterds. Tomorrow I'm not sure what we'll do early on. LB has try outs for a local showcase type baseball team in the afternoon. Big B is going to Crue Fest. I was originally planning on going but have decided against it (I may have mentioned this before--early senility...). Instead I'm having some friends over for a last hurrah of summer, a "ladies night in". We'll eat, drink, be merry and just have a good ole time. Sunday I plan to get a head start on my reading, and do some last minute home/family organizational type things.

Then Monday we're off to school!

summer's end is near

Lyrics | Foo Fighters lyrics - Summer's End lyrics

Ok, so summer isn't quite over, yet. In five days and a wake up it certainly will be. Gone. Over.

It's on to new beginnings and new adventures.

LB will be a junior in high school, and AW will be an 8th grader. I will begin my second year of nursing school. Big B will be alongside us all as we start and go through this school year. He'll help with homework, and shuttling the boys to their activities. He'll help me. He'll be my shoulder when all I want to do is quit.

This last week will be spent organizing the house for my tolerance during the next semester. I'm even gong to make up a rule chart for the guys to have, so there will be no question as to what is expected of them...all 3 of them! Yesterday I took LB to court to get his official driver's license as is the norm in the state of Virginia. All teens under the age of 18 must attend a court session to attain their license. We've also got to go to the high school to pay fees, buy LB's parking permit and pick up his textbooks. I'm going to go to lunch with some former co-workers. I also need to do the grocery shopping at some point in all of this.

Saturday is Crue Fest. We have six tickets to it, and I was originally going to go. Motley Crue is the only group that will be there that I'm familiar with, and I really just don't feel like hanging around for hours upon hours. I'd rather go out with some friends for a few hours or have a ladies night inn.

I was going to take the boys, and possibly some of their friends, to King's Dominion one of the these days this week. When I said something to LB about it he protested. He finds KD "boring". AW isn't a big roller coaster rider, so he probably could care less himself.

I guess it's just that time of summer when we're all ready to get back to the ole school grind.

5 days and a wake up!

mind blowing news

Yesterday after Big B arrived home we set out to go to a nearby campground to check out the RV spaces for my father-in-law. He's visiting over Labor Day weekend. The drive takes about 20 or so minutes, so it gave us plenty of time to chit chat about the day's goings on. It actually wasn't that long into the drive that Big B proceeded to inform me of something that had me speechless, flabbergasted more like.

Let's back up a bit though. We moved to Virginia in 2005, coming back from an overseas assignment. We had been stationed in VA prior to our tour in Italy, so we knew we liked the state. We knew we could settle down for a while. Looking toward the future, which is necessary with children, we knew we wanted to be able to keep them grounded in one area so they could at least finish their high school years.

Let's back up even further. I have never lived anywhere longer than 6 1/2 years. My parents moved my brother and I one month before the end of my ninth grade year. In Texas (where we moved from) and Colorado (where we moved to) ninth grade was still part of junior high school. I've never had a problem making friends. That being said who wants to leave friends behind that you've had for 6 1/2 years, the longest span ever? Then who really wants to make friends during the last month of ninth grade knowing those very friends could end up going to a totally different high school than you? This is all not to mention I moved from Texas to Colorado. Can we say "cultural differences"? People in Colorado had me repeat things I said, just to hear me say them again, that's if they understood me the first time. Yee-haw.

I knew I did not want my children to have to be uprooted in such a fashion. In fact I have wanted my children to grow everlasting roots. I revel in the fact that they in fact have done exactly so. We've been very happy settling down in our current place of residence. We've made great friends. The boys are happy. They adjusted with few bumps along the way when we first moved here.

So can you guess the words my husband uttered? the words I didn't think would be uttered ever again? Never say never.

There's a chance that if I get a certain promotion we may need to move to Florida in a year or so.

My very brief, initial reaction was thorough elation as I fell in love with FL when we vacationed there in 2007, and we stayed in the area that we would relocate to, so I know I would like it there.

HOWEVER.

LB is heading into his Junior year of high school this year. Where would that put him in a year or so??? AW will be going into 8th grade. He'll be heading into high school in a year.

LB was my very next thought after that oh so brief moment of selfish elation. I knew the theme for his pleas would be absolute irrefutable refusal to budge.

It was apparent I had to snap out of my shell shock and get on with our task at hand. We took photos of the RV lot, then went on our merry way. We had to run a couple of errands, and then we picked up dinner and headed home. It wasn't until later, but Big B finally informed the boys of the news. I felt it was important to give them a year or so to come around (ha) to the idea.

LB had been over at a friends house, so after we reassured him that this is only a "if" he left in a huff and went back to his friends house [who happens to be a neighbor]. After a few minutes I texted him, asking if he was ok. His reply:

Me: r u ok?
LB: What kinda question is that? Hell no im not okay im serious if we have to move im staying with somebody to go my senior year here. Ill come visit and stuff.

I literally copied/pasted/emailed/copied/pasted his response from my Blackberry to this post. You'll have to excuse his language and grammatical errors. For one I can't say as if I blame him for the language and quite frankly not even I'm picky about grammar on text messages.

In a way his response is sort of funny. It's not shocking in the least.

In some ways I welcome the possibility of relocating. I mean come on, we've been here four years already. My internal nomad feels it's time to wonder off somewhere else. Then there's the fact that we are settled. We could stay here long term, as in for life. That's all not to mention the fact that we are in in-state tuition status considering our soon (time is flying fast) to be college kid.

I'm not ready for him to leave for college and I'm certainly not ready to leave him behind.

AW has come around. After finding out exactly where we would be moving to he said "Let's go now!"

So, that's the news. It's all very iffy right now. Big B has even gotten annoyed with how the boys and I have reacted to it. We'll just have to wait and see.

We'll cross the [relocation] bridge if we come to it.

just out of curiosity

As I head into my second year of nursing school I have many questions about this year floating around in the abyss that is my mind. What books do we need to bring with us the first day of class? We are scheduled from 9-12, 12-3 on Mondays, will there be a lunch break? Prior to Spring semester's end there was word that some of us would need to go to a different hospital for clinicals. It's about an hour away from where I live. When will we know who is assigned to which hospital? Will we be able to acquire syllabi prior to the beginning of classes? Will we be given any instruction whatsoever prior to showing up bright and early on the 24th???

This is the answer I received: (copied and pasted)

KLS,

Slow down...take a breath...I have posted the syllabi on Blackboard. We'll
talk about it all on Mon the 24th. Enjoy the rest of your summer break!

Signed,
Your Instructor*

Personally if there isn't a second year orientation, I would at least send out a packet of information (either by snail mail or email) that would provide us answers to our questions. I know I'm not the only one inquiring.

By the way, the syllabi being loaded onto Blackboard is only helpful, when the class is opened on Blackboard.

So, I am wondering what your nursing program did, or is doing, to prepare you for your second year? Are you jumping in (did you jump in) feeling somewhat naked and ignorant like me?

*real names not given

it's a hard knock life

sandi and minnie, in all their splendor

< two weeks

Yes, in less than two weeks we go back to school, we as in LB, AW and me.

We three spent the day on Friday shopping for clothes and supplies. We did well with saving some bucks during the VA Tax Free Holiday. The boys made it pretty easy. I have to say I'm rather appreciative of the fact that they both chose to shop in the same three stores! LB is more of my athlete/jock type kid and AW is the skater boy. He's not so "emo" anymore and is branching away from the all black repertoire of that culture. PacSun, Journeys and Zumiez are all stores that cater to the skater/surfer/snowboarder types.

Really the boys picked out nothing more than jeans and t-shirts. I found it kind of ironic. In previous years LB has wanted to shop at stores like Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, etc. He's worn polos. Not this year. He'll wear polos he already has, but he had not interest in buying new ones. They both also got their regular shoes and LB got a pair of running shoes.

One might wonder why not just go to Walmart or some other discount chain store is all they're going to wear is jeans and t-shirts. Well, if you have teens you may know how picky they can be about branding.

Anyway...

I checked yesterday and it is official, I made a C in my A&P class. Because I expected nothing more I am not totally shocked, but it is my first college C ever. Hopefully it wont be the norm in the next year. If so, at least it will get me where I need to be, which is graduated with my ADN.

I've received all of my textbooks and have started reading my med/surg book. The first chapter has been nothing more than a review of previous material. I've also added the online supplements for my texts to my study folder.

The schedule will leave me with less time to study during the day than I've had in previous semesters. I'll be sitting down with the guys sometime soon and reiterating the whole be prepared for mom to be a frantically studying, sometimes present-but-not-present being. It goes as follows:

Monday: Second Level Principles and Concepts 0900-1200, Essentials of Maternal/Newborn Nursing 1200-1500 (I guess we'll eat lunch while receiving lecture...)
Tuesday: Health Assessment 1000-1200
Wednesday: Clinicals 0645-1445
Thursday: Clinicals 0645-1445
Friday: no class, just study time

As the days go on I get more and more excited. There are little life experiences here and there that remind me of why I want to become a nurse. These experiences lead me to press on with this ambition and help to put my insecurities at bay.

one word

It's bright and early Wednesday morning, well maybe not so bright, but definitely early. I'm ready for the day ahead. I walk in and meet up with some of my classmates. Everyone's excited to see each other since it's been a couple of months since we last met up, at least for most. We're all a little hesitant considering we are starting our second clinical rotation, yet excited all the same. We're full of anticipation. As we're chit chatting I notice everyone's stethoscopes around their necks and realize with a sudden, all consuming feeling of terror that I left mine at home.

Wait a minute! What else am I forgetting?

I set off in search of my clinical instructor. As I'm walking around frantically searching I notice something odd about my surroundings. Isn't that Nurse C? The halls are the same. There's that same old, crappy nurse's station that could use some serious updating. In fact the whole place could use some serious renovation. It's the long-term care facility where we did our spring semester clinical rotation! Why are we here again?! Aren't we supposed to be at the hospital?!

Why am I wearing only one shoe?!

I see people gathering in the lobby area. For such a small area there seems to be a massive crowd, maybe thirty or forty people altogether.

Why are there so many people? Who are all these people?

There she is! There's my clinical instructor! By this time I realize I'm wearing no shoes whatsoever.

Wait! Where's my clipboard with my skills check-off list?!

I'm rushing to reach her, to tell her I've forgotten my stethoscope, and now my clipboard. It seems I'm moving in slow motion. I can't get to her fast enough! Finally I'm there by her side, waiting for her to stop talking with another student when all of a sudden I feel everyone's eyes on me. Everyone is looking toward the lower half of my body. What are they looking at?! I also feel a chill across my legs. I look down and in utter disbelief realize I am wearing no pants.

nightmare

all in one piece

There they are, my new plates and bowls. We received them the day before yesterday, all in one piece, which is much better than how the original shipment arrived. When I picked out the Parisian Fruit pattern I figured it would come with a variety of fruits. Evidently the variety must lie with the entire dinnerware set. The salad plates are apples, and I'm figuring the dinner plates are something else and so on... No biggie, as I like them anyway.

And in other news...

I've received my grades for Nutrition & Diet Therapy (an A) and Developmental Psych (a B). I could have gotten an A in psych except that one week where I had taken Ambien and fell over the elliptical machine I'd had such a hard time that week altogether. I turned in an incomplete assignment and received a very low grade on it. Had it not been for that I would have gotten an A. I even had the opportunity to resubmit, but with the other classes and life in general I just couldn't. It's frustrating because I normally hold myself to higher standards.

C'est la vie.

I'd like to give a shout out to Heather over at Nursapalooza. She is one of our newest full-fledged RNs!! Go over and congratulate her. I so can't wait to share such exciting news!

I'd also like to say a big "hello" to a blogger I've just come across, Nursing Anatomy, and thank her for the link to the Top 50 Nursing Blogs. Some of the blogs you and I read regularly are listed, along with what I'm sure are other great sources of everything nursing!

In just a few short days since posting that I would love for summer to last forever I've come around and have decided that heck no! Let's get this nursing school show on the road! There's still a sort of ambivalence within me concerning going on with nursing school. I heard just yesterday that there really isn't a nursing shortage in Northern VA, which just so happens to be where I live. I'm also fearful, of failure, and of generally what lies ahead.

My ride along with my friend/RN/Case Manager went well the other day. She, like I mentioned previously, works as a liaison between physicians, clients and insurance companies, but more specifically her work has to do with workman's compensation. She advises insurance companies whether a client's case is compensable or not. There were three appointments originally scheduled, but one had just been denied and the other had to be postponed. The one we did go on I thought was pretty interesting. The client happens to be a nurse who was injured while working with a combative client and ended up with a rotator cuff tear. After having surgery and undergoing several weeks of physical therapy this nurse was ready to return to the job on regular duty. There are a few layers to the case itself, but what I found fascinating was this nurse has been working as a nurse for about 30 years. This nurse absolutely loves nursing. The energy level and excitement to return to work was somewhat inspiring, if not astounding. We're talking someone nearing 70 years of age people!

During our conversations one subject that was brought up was--surprise, surprise-- the nursing shortage. It's cyclical. In thirty years this nurse has seen shortages come and go.

Later that day we went and saw my friend's husband who had just had surgery and was an inpatient at a local military hospital.

The day I walked out of the hospital I had been working in as an active duty medic I swore I would never go back to a hospital again, at least to work. That was in January of 1993. In 1997 I enrolled in a medical assistant program, with the intentions of doing clinic work. In 1999 I initiated my journey for nursing school. It was put on hold while we went overseas, and I flip-flopped with career choices. Since it had been an ambition from early on I decided to restart the journey toward becoming a registered nurse.

Here I am heading into my second year of nursing school. The other day as I walked through the halls of that military hospital a flood of emotions and insecurities I have tried to squash drenched me.

I almost wanted to fall to pieces.

today's the day

Today is the day I get to put summer semester to rest, once and for all. I will no longer have any other classes I have to take, except for the required nursing courses.

Do you know how good that feels to say that!?

Today's going to be a cinch. I'm actually looking forward to it, as I get to ride along with someone who is practicing on an advanced degree, and she's a friend to boot! She does not function in a patient care role as a RN, but rather works as a case manager between insurance companies and physicians. It's sure to be interesting, and will fill my service learning project requirement all at the same time. Tonight I'll write up my report on the experience, click submit and voila! Summer semester o-v-e-r.

Then the fun really begins. I have a lot to do to get things in order for the fall semester and the start of the second year of nursing school. As usual, while bogged down with classes, the house has been neglected. Big B does help out a lot, but our definitions of clean are a bit different.

Our bedroom needs to be torn apart and completely overhauled as far as cleanliness goes. I also need to go through our kitchen and get rid of a bunch of dishes we no longer need to keep around, as we've just bought new plates and bowls. We've been wanting square plates for a while, and finally found some we liked through Pfaltzgraff. Sadly, the first shipment came in pieces, and I don't mean the separate pieces that plates and bowls make up. I mean broken, shattered, into bits and pieces. You know the kind, the kind that are good for mosaics. We're hoping round two will afford us the complete set of plates and bowls we ordered. There were a few pieces that each made it in one piece, so we'll actually have extras. I'm not one for cookie-cutter type matching. So I opted to go with two different patterns. The dinner plates and bowls are "Nuance of Sage" and the salad plates are "Parisian Fruits". The dinner plates seem a little smaller than I'd really wanted them to be but it turns out they're only smaller than round dinner plates considering the rounded edges. Our first ever dinnerware came from Pfaltzgraff, thanks to bridal registries, and they lasted forever. Our most recent (Walmart) dinnerware, not so much.

I've received all of my textbooks for fall and my schedule. Somehow I don't think we'll have the opportunity to check out the syllabi for our classes until the first day of class. In an effort to give the benefit of the doubt, I will email the instructor to be sure. One would think there would be some sort of second year orientation so that syllabi could be handed out, clinical groups and location(s) could be assigned, and all the stuff that shouldn't take up instruction time could be handled. Who am I to question the practices of a nursing program though!?

Hmmph.

Ahh, well. I better go get ready for my day...wouldn't want to mess it all up by not filling this requirement, now would I!?

now that wasn't so bad!

Summer semester

Enough said? I mean really, who really wants to spend their summer taking classes? I certainly didn't, but it was a must. It was either spend the summer taking them, or add them in with nursing classes. Well, I'm not suicidal. However, if I had to take anymore classes along with nursing classes I think it might at least lead me to suicidal ideation.

Alas, the semester has pretty much come to an end and I'm happy to report that I survived. Schew!

I do have one last project to do and that is the Service Learning Project required for my anatomy and physiology class. I'm doing my service learning on Monday when I ride along with a friend who works as a case manager. After I have to write up a short report on what I did and learned and submit it to my online classroom discussion board, and then, well...finito!

My last exam didn't go so well the other day, but I did get enough points that along with the Service Learning Project I will have enough points to pass the class with a C. Considering my course load this semester, my health issues, and the kids being home, I'll swallow my pride and take my first college C and run with it. I've probably mentioned before it comes in as transfer credit and does not effect my GPA, so all's well.

I've continued taking the medication prescribed by the GI doc, although my pharmacy gave me a generic "equivalent" that I am questioning the effectiveness of. I had samples of the Kapidex, and since have started taking the generic form. I still don't have the abdominal pain waking me up anymore, but I am feeling the lump in throat sensation and seems it's worse on the generic form.

We aren't getting to take our family vacation, since we decided to buy a third car, so that LB would have his own. He is actually driving the second car, and Big B is driving the third. Whatever.

I haven't found the ring I spoke of in my last post. No one else has either. It's heartbreaking, but there's nothing more that can be done about it, except hope. As time wears on the hope dwindles though.

Aside from my SLP on Monday there's nothing else planned for next week, until the weekend. Next weekend is the summer version of Virginia's tax free holiday. We get to shop for school clothes and supplies tax free! I'll gladly brave the crowds to save a buck or two!

The weekend following we have the American Legion baseball team end-of-season BBQ. That following week we have registration and fees to pay for the '09-'10 school year.

And then...

Well the weekend of the 22nd we have tickets to Crue Fest 2. I'm not quite sure if I'll be going. I'm not a big fan of the other bands playing with Motley Crue, and quite frankly I'm not that interested in going period.

And then...

School starts here the 24th. LB will be entering his Junior year and AW his 8th grade year. I'll be entering my second year of nursing school.

Oh, why can't the summer just drag on forever!?