Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday. I watched my kids open their easter baskets then I hit the bed again. We're having our "official" Easter with the family next weekend so I guess I got sick at the right time. LOL You can always find something good out of something bad right?

Sorry I didn't post sooner. I'm just now feeling like a human being again. For the last few days I've been zombified and enslaved to my bed. I take one percocet and it knocks me out cold. Ugh! I am going to go to school tomorrow. I really don't quite feel up to the task, but it's the end of the semester and I cannot afford to miss class. You know how it goes. I have a test in Micro wednesday and a psych test in nursing on Thursday. I'm sure I've already said that, but oh well. I don't like having two tests that close together..it makes for a stressful week. As if I need any added stress. Quite frankly, I think the stress is what got my in this position to begin with. Anyhow, I have tried all day to study for my psych test, that's hard to do when you're in and out of conciousness. Ha! BUT I can't say I didn't give it a go anyway. I'm not banking on the best grade, but surely I'll pass. The material isn't too difficult, but we'll see. This is the first test from this instructor so I don't know her style, I hate that. I've heard her tests are pretty easy, we'll find out now won't we? I plan on studying for my micro test the morning of. I can't give it more time than that. If we fail we get to take it again anyway, so I'm not fretting about it too much.

To those of you who are about to start school (Margaret). First of all congratulations. You're about to embark on a journey of a lifetime. Don't worry your pretty little head. Just be prepared. Know that it is challenging, but if you want it bad enough, then you will get through it. Some days you're going to wonder why you're putting yourself through the stress, other days you're going to smile to yourself and KNOW exaclty why. Just make sure to take care of yourself. I cannot tell you how many days all I had in my system was coffee and a bag of chips. It's a good idea to pack healthy snacks in your back pack so you're not forced to eat out of the vending machine. Apples, bananas, granola bars, water etc... You'll be envied by your classmates if you do this. While they're ashamedly (is that a word?) eating their cheetos you'll be eating your juicy apples and they'll wish they'd thought of it too. It's also important to make a plan! I cannot stress this enough. Schedule your study times. It's the best thing I've done. That way you won't feel the guilt when you're picking up your house or doing laundry because you know you've set aside time to study. On the subject of housework. DO NOT feel guilt if your house in is shambles. Your kids, if you have any, your husband, if you have one, and school is your first priority. Have them help too. I love a clean house as much as the next person, but I had to let my controlling ways go and just plan for breaks and free weekends to do the chores. It's hard to do, but you have to prioritize. Also, don't be ashamed to ask for help or hire a cleaning service. I did, I hired my mom and pay her every week to help with laundry and she sometimes even cooks up a meal for us....what a good mommy. Yes, I'm 31 and my mom helps me clean my room....so what? LOL Believe me, she loves the extra spending money and it works out for everyone all around. I don't have her come on my breaks and after I'm finished her job will be complete, but it has been a tremendous weight lifted off of us. In a family of 6 you gotta do what you gotta do. Buy a digital recorder. It will save your life. These people are cramming a lot of material in a short amount of time. You will miss most of what they say if you're taking notes so use your recorder as a reference. I use to listen to the whole thing, it did help, but it's time consuming. Go with works best with you and stick with it. You'll find out after the first couple of tests what works for you. Note cards don't help me unless it's definitional stuff. I usually re-wrote all of my notes and organized them. If you decide to do this, try and get caught up every night. It's hard to do, but will save you so much time and you'll have more time to study the material. Making notes is what takes the most time for me. They give you handouts, you have your book, and you'll have your notes. Putting it all together in one place helps the material make more sense. Don't freak out if you get a bad grade. Just try harder next time. My 1st semester was the worst for me. I made C's straight through and only missed 4 on the final and got a B in the class. LOL Getting use to the nursing tests takes practice. It wouldn't hurt to by a book of nursing questions that can help you get comfortable with them. They say they aren't tricky, but they lie because they are. LOL There are usually two right answers and you have to pick the BEST right answer. Remember the ABC's Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Airway takes priority over everything. If the circulation isn't working, that's bad, but if they don't have a patent airway they'll die so that intervention has to come first before the others. Also remember that the number one way to prevent the spread of infection is.....HANDWASHING! It's usually the right answer. He he. Don't be too hard on yourself, you can't be perfect all of the time and there are going to be days when you'll wonder if you can do it. Make a friend and support eachother. It's always helps to have someone close to you that knows what you're going through. You can do it...use that as your mantra. Don't give up and good luck!!!!

Until next time....