Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tri is nearing the end...

I'm not doing well in PNS and after tutoring only got me 6 points higher on the second test (which I cannot blame on the tutor, because I didn't study enough on my own), I decided to see what I can get done on my own again. It is hard to set aside the time to study when so many other things/people are calling out for my attention. But I must. I must pass it this time.

Over the weekend, I worked on getting us organized in our filing again. So much was out of order and I had a stack of papers to sort (seem to build up over a month). Spent some time sorting out old files, shredding, putting together new files. Feels good to know where things are and have a system that makes some sense. While I was working on that and other things (did some cooking, cleaning, 3 loads of laundry, took Lani to her swim lesson), Jon was hard at work on Dartagnan's bedroom, priming and painting the trim. He alternated that with working outside on our berm. He's remodeling the earth to form really cool yin-yang type patterns (ariel view) so that there will be gravel pathways between for easy access to weed and plant and prune, etc. It is "shaping" up really nicely.

Sunday Jon and I dropped the kids to my mom & dad's and went on a 10-hour road trip. Jon's mom asked us to meet her in Milwaukee to pick up Jon's sister, Jani, and take her back home from her visit to Washington Island. Was so good to see family and have a leisurely lunch together. Jani was so animated on the way home and catching up with Jon. I was studying, mostly. :) Got quite a lot of studying done in the van that day, actually.

Before we left Sunday morning, Jon had finished the final touch-ups on Dartagnan's new room's paint. So when we arrived home Sunday night, Jon put together D's bed frame and we got his mattress moved from our sunroom floor downstairs. He finally got to sleep in his new room!

Had a test in Systems Pathology yesterday & am still feeling a little exhausted from it. It was a tough test. There was an entire section that I didn't review because I thought it was on the last test. Not sure how I did, but felt confident on the material I had reviewed.

I've had too much cheese/dairy products the past few days and feel a bit yuck. I think I'll make a double batch of waffles tonight to freeze and have for dinner.

Jon had to leave for Peoria late last night. A relative had a stroke and is in the hospital. Jon wanted to be there to support his family, of course. He will be back home this afternoon; I miss him, which is a little silly, since we are together almost all the time! But really, he is so laid back and great to be around, that when he's not here, it is weird. I was single for so long and never thought I'd feel that way about anyone, not even Dartagnan. Although I really do miss Dartagnan when he's not here too, even though he doesn't talk much now that he is a teen.

Time to head back to class. Systems Path. We'll see what funny stories Dr. Taylor has for us today. :)

Friday, September 24, 2010

Birthday

Well, today, Friday,September 24th, is my birthday. Has been a very pleasant day. Got up, got ready to go & when I came back to the bedroom, Jon had a card waiting for me. Was very sweet.

Went to PNS (is a 7:30 class). We're going over Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetics now, comparing and contrasting them.

After that, went to see Dr. Tatum & looked over my make-up Exam 2. Didn't do as well as I had hoped to do & mistakenly thought I had scored 32, when in actuality, was only 22 on regular portion of exam. The slide portion (there are slides that have to be interpreted, 12 on each test), was OK: score of 10. Mind you, this test was taken while I was still not feeling well: nose running, coughing, headache, etc.

Realized this morning that I actually feel good again! It has been one month of being sick. Glad I'm over it.

After reveiwing my test and seeing where my errors were, headed over to yoga at Indigo Wellness and was a very good session. A slower pace than what I'm used to, but still challenging. Felt so good and so relaxing.

Came home & got ready for lunch with my best friend since middle school, Patricia. We had lunch together at the Symposium Cafe. They have a delicious marinated mushroom wrap that is so hearty & filling. I was bad too: had the fries instead of salad. They were tasty, but my GI tract protested shortly after leaving the cafe. Just can't handle greasy/fried food well anymore. Really bothers me.

Was so good to see Patricia. Don't get to spend as much time as I want to with my friends anymore. It can be tough. We caught up and had some good "girl talk."

Came back home and finished editing/reformatting Dr. Taylor's next note set from his website: http://www.pathclass.org/ I don't like how they are posted on-line, so I make the font smaller (which can save up to 10 pages of print), & I also read through it to make it as succinct as possible and to use abbrev. & symbols when I can. Want to not only conserve paper, but to have just the info that is really relevant w/out having to sort thru the extra verbage.

Got that printed out before leaving for Systems Pathology. Ended up not needing it for class, because he didn't lecture that far.

I'm falling asleep writing this. So tired today...

We are headed to Crane & Pelican Cafe in LeClaire tonight for dinner & to a play at the Whittenmeyer Complex. Should be fun hanging out with our friends Paul & Sharon.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Boards

Thankfully, I am not taking Boards, the tests that are required for gaining licensure in the U.S. They are being held this weekend. Started today (I think) and Thursday and Wednesday were study days for students in 4th Tri and higher. So has been nice to have some time off, especially since I was still not feeling well yesterday.

Today felt a bit better and cleaned house and studied this morning. I got quite a bit done. Decided that since I had accomplished so much, that I would go to yoga at noon. Was so refreshing and relaxing. Went to Indigo Wellness www.indigowellness.com and Shannon, the teacher, was very calm and peaceful. I think I may have to get a card for multiple sessions.

This afternoon I had tutoring with Dr. Rogers and felt good about that. Picked up Lani and fed her dinner and got her bathed. She's watching "Peter Pan" and enjoying the songs immensely. I signed her up for ballet and swim lessons at the Y http://scottcountyfamilyy.org/bettendorf/default.asp She had fun last night at her ballet class. We had to then hurry to the high school, as it was Parent Teacher Conference night. Met with all of Dartagnan's teachers except one (we ran out of time) and then had to get him to his hip-hop dance class (lessons for him started this week too, like Lani) in Moline at The Academy of Performing Arts http://www.qcacademy.com/ He's exceited to be back in dance. He has Jazz/Ballet on Monday nights and wants to add in Ballroom and Salsa, but we have to find a place for him to take it that, as he says, isn't "scary" which really means, that it isn't just adults, but also some teens or just teens. This won't be easy to find in the Quad-Cities.

So in the morning, I'm planning to go to the Farmer's Market with my mom early (7:30 feels early on a Saturday), then later, at 10:15, take Lani to her swim lesson. After we get back home, I'll get ready to go horseback riding with my friend Callie, who has two horses stabled about an hour away from here. I've not been with her before, but I think we'll have a great ride. Callie's in Boards, so I know she will be welcoming the opportunity to get away from the books/Palmer for a bit. Might convince Jon to go out with Callie and her friends to dinner tomorrow night...we'll see if he feels like it. He will be working on Dartagnan's room tomorrow, getting it painted. (Yea!)

Think I'm going to put a load of laundry in the machine and read some Renal Physiology or write out some PNS pathways before I hit the hay. Jon is still out of town. He left earlier this afternoon to meet his mom and stepdad in Peoria and drop off a painting to them. He hasn't left yet but will come home tonight, I think. :) Dartagnan is staying the night at my mom's house and hanging out with his cousins (my sister-in-law and her two boys just moved back in with my mom and dad about two weeks ago while my brother is traveling in the Pacific for the Marines until December).

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Peoria

Saturday night in Peoria, Jon's home (really, Brimfield, IL, is his hometown, but it is just outside of Peoria and his dad and stepmom live in Peoria currently). We are staying with Jeff, his dad, and Mariola, his stepmom.

This morning we spent some time with Jon's mom, Judy, and his aunt, Dreme, out at Dreme and Max's house in the woods. They are the same woods that Jon grew up running around in, playing with his cousins and brother. He grew up just down the drive from Dreme. His childhood home has been for sale for a while now, so when we pass it on the way to Dreme's, I think it makes him feel a little sad and a little bit nostalgic. He's more sentimental about some things than I am and was very fortunate to have had a very happy childhood, so he looks back on his childhood home as a very special place. Out of all the people I know, his childhood was probably the most idyllic. Really. He hung out with his grandpa next door, played in a pool all summer long, he ran about exploring the woods, he had an amazing dog that saved his life, he was surrounded by family that he loved being with and they loved being with him. He has great recollections of being a young boy.

His mom and stepdad, Win, came to Peoria for Josh's, Jon's little brother's suprise 30th birthday party that was this afternoon. Was good to see them, as they are on their way to Florida with a load of things from their Wisconsin home that was recently sold. They will be back in a week to go back and pack up more and have a garage sale to sell all that they don't wish to keep. Then will travel back down to Florida. It is a lot of miles of driving two completely packed Dodge Caravans.

The party was great--Josh really WAS surprised, which I thought was really quite a feat, considering how many people knew about it and didn't let it slip! There were many people in attendance, Kate and family made great food AND grilled too, and their new deck and newly remodeled and updated home hosted everyone very comfortably. The kids all had fun playing in the yard with bubbles and on the kid-sized John Deere Gator, just like Grandpa Zinser's--Kate's dad--big one. Josh had just finished building the deck this week, so it was just in time! It so nice to get to see everyone that we don't get to see often, including Jon's Grandma B and her husband Gene, who drove down from Knoxville, IL, near Galesburg, to come to the party, too. We also enjoy visiting with Kate's parent's, Doc and Christine Zinser. Doc was instrumental in Jon's decision to pursue chiropractic as a career. They are really fun people to be around.

Still sick. Today is Day 3 of my z-pack, so hope I am feeling much better tomorrow. Dartagnan is on Day 4 of his antibiotics, but he is still not feeling much better either. Maybe Sunday will be the turning point. Tired of coughing all the time. Tired of feeling tired!

Tomorrow morning we'll get to spend more time with Jeff and Mariola and hopefully see Jenni and her husband, Ed. Jenni is Mariola's daughter, Jon's stepsister. We didn't get a chance to visit with them yet.

Friday's Toggle mid-term exam was a killer. Wow. The CD that is included with the text is a good taste of what the questions on the exam will be like. They were definitely tough. I took 1.5 hours to complete the test. There was a matching section that gave the listing and then there were 5 possible statements that may or may not apply and you had to decide which statements DID apply and mark all that DID, so you could have A, B, D or B,C, E or other combo on your answer sheet. That was very challenging. I'm glad I spent the time that I did spend on studying that.

Spent some time today reviewing Rad 2 for the exam on Tuesday and reading some about water-soluble vitamins for Nutrition. I need to put some more time in to reviewing...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Sick...again

Dartagnan and I are home sick today. I had a rough night last night and so did he. I was waking up every few hours, taking cough syrup every 4 because I couldn't sleep due to how hard I was coughing. My chest aches. Dartagnan went to bed early last night, but woke up with fever off and on thru the night. Me too. Not running one this morning, but still feel awful and will be going back to sleep as soon as I finish this post.

Tuesday Dartagnan broke his finger trying a ninja move on his friend, who put his knee up to block it. So the proximal end of his middle phalange of the 4th digit is fractured (the center segment of his ring finger) on his right hand. I told him no more ninja moves.

This morning I had to take Dartagnan to get the splint fitted for his finger. He'll go back in a month to get another set of x-rays to see how the fracture is healing. While at the MD's office, I made an appointment for myself. Have had chest tightness, productive cough, & fever off and on since last Thursday or Friday. Just have not been feeling well.

Went to see the NP and she gave me an inhaler and a z-pack. If it is the start of walking pneumonia like it feels like, then the z-pack should take care of it. I had been waiting to see if it would just resolve on its own, but I've not been improving, so broke down and went.

The stress of this week hasn't helped much either. Tuesday was the Axis Practical in Toggle and the 2nd exam in Systems Pathology. Today I was supposed to take the Rad II 2nd exam, but will take a make-up on Tuesday, next week, instead. Tomorrow afternoon is the Toggle Mid-Term, which sounds like it will be a bear. I received private tutoring for PNS on Monday night for 2 hours and was feverish for the first hour and chilled for the 2nd hour. I learned a lot, but my head was a little fuzzy (has been, being sick), so was more than ready to leave when my time was up. I need tutoring because I'm don't want to fail the course a 2nd time. Also, a Renal group project (short problem) was due Wednesday, so our group met on Tuesday to work on it. Just seems like there has been so much this week.

Delaney has been really bad about desparately trying to keep herself awake as long as possible at night, too, and woke up today with sniffles...I hope she's not getting sick again, too. Last Friday, the preschool called us and we had to pick her up at noon because she was running a fever. She was fine by Sunday, but Saturday was sick all day.

I'm just ready for the weekend to arrive: we will be going to Peoria, IL, to visit Jon's family and it will be pleasant and relaxing. Sounds good to me! Now, I'm lying down and going to rest for a while...