123.5

Just got back from grandma's house. J is sleeping in the car (I can see her) and I am just in checking email and picking up around the house until B gets home from school. I have so much studying to do the next few days. Big Theory test monday. I got 14/15 on my med term test. So exxcited to get that one done. I got both my interviews done for my paper/presentation so now I will just have to write up the papers next week. I am feeling like I am accomplishing things, but it is just so much work every single week. Not like the classes I had before when you'd be busy for a week, then have 2 weeks of not so busy. It is constant. But I am proud of myself for doing this and I really do love what I'm learning. I can't wait to be a nurse! I'm looking into some doula courses, either birth doula or postpartum doula. Obviously I have no time to do it now, but possibly over summer break. I'd love to do that part time while going to school. I love helping other moms, and would love to get some breastfeeding support hours (I'd eventually like to be a certified lactation consultant). Anyway, just another thing on my list of things to do with my life!

This weekend I plan to spend some quality time with the kids. I would like to take B to a movie, or do something one on one with him as I am with J much more now that he has school full time. I am going to start volunteering in his room on wednesdays to help with math time. I am excited to see how he is in school this year. I also plan to have lunch with him tomorrow. I try to go to lunch with him at least a couple times a month. It is fun to meet his friends, and interact with him in that setting. I am so proud of how big and independent he is getting. Every day I drop him off at the crossing guard, and he never looks back. Sometimes I sit and wait to see if he will glance back at me, and he never does. I am sad and happy all at once. Sad that he is now so independent and doesn't need me like he used to , but also happy because as a mother I think our goal is to make them comfortable and independent. It is hard though, to let go.

I better go check on J.

124.5 lb pre-shower, 124 lb post shower???!!!

Either I really did have 1/2 lb of dirt on me, or I have a screwy scale. Weird. Anyway, is this turning too much into a weight-centered blog?? I am trying not to post much about my weight. I just like to see the numbers and look back on them. They aren't going down too fast, but I'm not exercising much so maybe they won't go down fast. I am eating good, and trying to be healthy. It may seem as though I am obsessed with my weight. I really am not. I don't go around thinking about it 24/7. I do like to know what I weigh and I do like to keep it in check. I think if I didn't, I would slowly gain weight and that would not be good for me in the long run. I'm the type who likes to know where it is, whether bad or good. Then I'm more aware and it helps me with my eating. I do come from a mother and grandmother who are somewhat a bit too weight conscious. My grandma talks about it all the time. She is a tiny thing, about 105 lb, but insists she is "fat". My mom doesn't talk about it, but is also very thin and I think she thinks about it more than I know. She is probably about 115 lb and she is taller than me. She has only recently lost weight to get this thin. My dad and her joined a gym and eat really well (dad has hypertension) and so they are both losing weight. She was always about a size 10 when I was a kid, I can remember helping her look for clothes and looking for a size 10! I would say she was always thin/average size. Now she is very thin. Like a size 4 probably. So, maybe it is in my genes to worry about my weight. I don't know. I don't want to worry about it, or talk about it (which I never do) or obsess about it (which I don't think I do). Anyway....

Tonight is my med term test. I am not studying like I should be, obviously. Guess I'm not too worried. I have lots to study this weekend with a big test monday night.

Kids are doing well. I don't see them as much as I'd like but they are loving school and are both getting so big. It all goes so fast.

Anyway, I better get back to my book!

124 lb and sunny day!

The sun is out, and it is supposed to be in the 70's today. We better appreciate it, since the weather is going to get colder starting tonight. Winter will be here soon and I am not looking forward to the cold, snow, ice etc.

J is asking me to draw a picture, so I have to cut this short. Have a happy day!

124.5 lb and exhausted

It is monday morning after being in school all weekend, plus I have three hours of class tonight. It really is very exhausting being at school ALL weekend. And this isn't even clinicals, when I'll have to get up even earlier. We have been very busy learning to take vital signs, give bed baths, transfer patients, along with all the theory behind everything. It is so much work. I had a test Saturday and got a 93%, which I was very happy with since it was a pretty hard test. An A is 92 - 100 % so I just made an A. We have a med term test Wed night and another theory test next monday. We also have preformance testing on vital signs in less than 2 weeks, which is going to be very scary (role playing in front of an instructor for a grade). I still have to practice taking blood pressures until I feel comfortable with it. The other tasks aren't too bad, taking temp, respirations, and pulse. The blood pressure is the hardest one. We also have to be able to transfer from bed to wheelchair or vice versa. This past weekend we did bed baths on each other. That was interesting! It was good experience knowing what it is like to give one, and receive on.

As you can see my weight is steady from last week. Which is probably good since I ate LeAnn Chins for lunch Saturday, and ice cream last night. Cheated big time, but guess being in school helped me not eat as much during the day. So, hopefully this week I can work on eating good and getting back down a lb or 2.

124.5 lb

No time to post much. I am off to bring B to school, then 45 min drive to a friend's house who needs babysitting from me today. She is going to Vegas and has 3 kids under 5. I'll have J with me, so it will be lots of kids for me today!! Then come home to make dinner, play with kids, study, watch Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, and ER (is that on tonight?) Can't wait for my favorite shows! Thurs is the only day I have any shows on this year, so that works out (no school).

125 lb

Very tired today. I've been staying up late studying. I find it hard to study during the day. Even though I only have one kid at home, she demands a lot of time some days. I need to explain to her that sometimes I do need to study for a while. I have horrible mommy guilt. When the kids are here I feel like I need to spend a lot of time with them. Especially B, who is in school every day now. I feel like once he gets home at 3:30 I need to spend my evening with him. It is hard. I feel torn a million ways. I am worried about my tests coming up. I am worried about the next 2 years! One day at a time.

Went to a MOPS meeting today at church. J seems to enjoy going to the kids classes. I feel more refreshed after going, even though it is another thing on my schedule. It is only every other Wed, so not too bad. Today is my car pool day for preschool. I am doing a carpool with 2 other moms so I will end up driving only once a week. Not bad. I then have school tonight from 6-9, so then I'll probably be up late studying once I get home. I have a full weekend of classes this week also, with our test friday. We also have bedbath/oral hygiene preformance on each other, and clinical group meetings. I am looking forward to seeing who my instructor is. I already know the hospital I'll be going to. Soon I'll actually be a student nurse learning in a hospital. Scary!

125.5 lb

The weather is cold today. Have to walk B to school, get my haircut, return something at the store, and pick up pictures. Then I have to study, all while entertaining J today!

Tornado hits and getting real

This past Saturday we were out of town. We had traveled down to the lake/camper to spend one last weekend there. At about 10:30 pm Sat night, we got a call from our security system company that they were getting a flood alarm from our house. Crap. This is my husbands greatest fear. We have a sump in our basement and it fills up often and fast. Our house is not situated the greatest and the drainage is bad. So, it is important that the sump runs and is working. We even have a back up and a battery operated one in case of emergency. Anyway, we called the neighbor to check it out, as we were 4 hours away. We also got in our car and headed home, as bad storms were passing through. We needed to be home to assess the situation. What a fun night. Driving from 11 pm - 3 am, and up until 4 am. Not fun, when your kids get up by 7! The basement was wet around the perimeter and so now all the carpet is pulled up and we have fans running and trying to suck up as much water as we can from the pad underneath. But.... I feel lucky. Many people have no house to live in, after a tornado went through our town, and 2 neighborhoods were hit very bad, with over 200 houses not livable. To make it even more devastating, a 10 year old girl was killed when the house collapsed on top of her. She was with a babysitter (her brother I believe) and they did not hear sirens or know to go to the basement. How terrible and sad. This girl went to B's school, and I am sure he will hear about it and have lots of questions. I am just so sad for this family and all of her friends. How hard for a 5th grader to have to go through losing a classmate. I feel so lucky that we are all safe and our house was in tact when we got home. Please say a prayer for the families with no home.

This all has to happen on a test week for me, which really makes studying hard. With lack of sleep and the basement mess to deal with . I don't know when I'll study for my saturday exam. I am very worried about it. I really want to do well.

Lastly, I decided to step on the scale today and see the damage. 127 lb. There, I am up to 127 lb. I think partly due to having AF, but mostly due to lack of effort on my part. If you remember right, I went from 131 down to about 122 from May to Aug, now I am almost back to where I started. Very disappointing and depressing. I am disgusted and worn out with the struggle. I know it is a daily struggle for me to remain the weight I want to be. If I get off track at all, I just get more off track and then I just ignore it until I decide to face it again and get upset again and try again. I am back on the weight loss horse, and hoping most of this is just water weight and not "real" weight. A week ago I was about 124 so I don't think I really gained 3 lb in a week. I haven't been out of control eating, just not being as careful as I should. I'll keep posting my progress on here and maybe that will help. I am actually facing the facts here, and posting it even though it embarasses me since I had done so well for so long.

Good bye for now!

Results and finding time to breathe....

Have exactly 5 minutes before I have to bring J to her 2nd day of preschool. She loves it and can't wait to go. B is still getting used to going every day to 1st grade. I sometimes feel bad that he has to be so busy so soon. They already have homework, not a lot, and not hard, but still... He has a spelling test Friday already. Luckily he knows the words already and how to spell them. He is tired and getting used to the new, very busy, schedule.

Anyway, my studying paid off and here are my results from my first few weeks of school:
First Theory test 96%
Drug Calculation Exam 100%

Coming up: First lab/seminar test in 10 days and medical terminology test the next week. Lots of studying and reading to do in the next week. It is a constant busy, no down time between tests. There is always something around the corner. I also have a growth and development paper and presentation the first week in oct, and a cultural group project to get going on. Clinicals will be starting mid october.

Gotta run!

First day of first grade and hitting the books

Today I sent my oldest child to first grade. He will be gone every day all day!!! I am a little bit sad over this, but I will be ok. I will miss him and look forward to 3:30 every day when I can go meet him at the crossing guard. I am so very proud of my big boy!!

I better get going, here is a picture of my kitchen table tonight. I am busy studying for my first big test tomorrow night. Wish me luck!!

Summer in Pictures

Since I have a ton of pictures on my computer, I decided to post some of my favorites from this summer. I know I love it when other bloggers post pictures!

These are pictures of J and B before their uncle Mark's wedding in May:













Here are the kids tubing behind the boat!




I love this one, B riding the merry go round at the local fair:



Typical J, tired from playing hard all day, face full of dirt, hair a mess, and wearing her favorite color blue! This was taken when my husband had the kids all weekend and I was on my "girls only" weekend. He took them camping with his family:


And here is my "girls" weekend. We are on the pontoon having fun in the sun!

The summer is coming to a close. Another summer gone, another fall around the corner. It is always bittersweet. I love spending time with my kids, and not having something to rush off to every morning. I love letting them stay up late playing kickball with the neighbor kids and not worrying about geting them to bed at a certain time. I love watching them get dirty in the hot sun, playing with cousins around a campfire. I love the wind in our hair as we ride in the boat. I love their smiles and their laughter. Here's to a great summer 2006 and looking forward to an even greater fall!

Visitors!!!

If you visit my blog, please leave me a comment today with your blog address. I would love to add some new blogs to my list, and would LOVE to hear from anyone who reads my blog. I am not always the greatest at leaving comments on other blogs, but I'm trying to get better and I'd love to know if you are reading. Just a quick hello and your blog link! Pretty please????? Thanks!!!!!