The journey to Pueblo

Daily, I drive from Fountain to Pueblo where I attend Colorado State University-Pueblo in pursuit of my BSN.  Every morning, I get up, get showered and dressed and roll out to 7-11 where I get my coffee fix.  I could (and probably should) make coffee at home.  I then battle traffic going to the local high school and the Soldiers making their way to first formation (Physical Training) on a road that has been under construction as long as I've lived in this neighborhood.  I make a very boring 30 mile drive.  I go to classes, hang out with new friends, study a bit and then I make the same drive I made some 8 hours before, except I fight with traffic coming out of the base and the teachers leaving the school.

I will be doing this day in and day out for the next 14 weeks.  I don't get Labor day off, but I get a full week off at Thanksgiving.  That's a new one...

The journey to the end of the 6 week term...

Oh, and it's BEEN a journey.  It's been the hardest 4 weeks of my life, hands down...well, except for the time I was married to my ex.  That was just life, though!  I shouldn't talk crap, though.  I wasn't easy to live with then, either and it's certainly not been easy for my husband NOW!  Part of the reason we did as well as we did the last 18 months of our marriage was because we had roommates.  My roommate J. took a lot of the heat off of I!  Me and I clashed pretty bad, but it was worse with J and I.  I am happy to report though, that I has *finally* gotten into a serious relationship--well, serious enough that it's on facebook.  Oh, yes.  I am a facebook stalker and I'm not ashamed to admit it!  I search most of my ex's and see where they are.  It makes me really grateful to where I am.  Is that terrible of me?  I and me divorced 10 years ago in Aug.  So, I am happy that he finally moved on.  It took me a long time, in my opinion, to move on.  I'd been divorced all of...oh wait, I wasn't divorced when I had my first serious relationship (can you say rebound?)...but it was something like 3 years after I divorced before I met the man I knew I'd marry.

I knew I'd marry R after I deployed to Iraq in 2003.  I knew after a few letters I'd received from him.  One of those letters was about his "man juice" and how I'd just wanted him for that!  LOL!  After talking to one of the gals I worked with at the time, she said that was 7th date information, although we'd never had a 7th date...no we hadn't even had a 3rd date!  R wanted kids and it was apparent in that letter...a letter I still have.  A man who wanted kids!  And I wanted kids!  It worked out...there was so much more to that, though.  I wrote a pose about the sand to him towards the beginning of the war.  He still has THAT letter, too.

But, I digress...I just finished 2 exams in the lecture, 2 exams in the lab (oh, and this is Anatomy and Physiology) all of which I have excelled.  I  have an exam tomorrow.  I've been studying this weekend with my mother in law who is also a nurse.  She said this stuff was just coming back to her!  I was just saying to her on the way up to Denver why on earth do I really honestly need to know ALL of this when we came across a doctor's office that said that he specialized in maxillary stuff...and I was like, "Oh, I know where that is!" (oh, and I was excited about having this knowledge!)  And she said, "and once you know the bones, the nerves and muscles usually have the same names...who knew...well, I guess she knew!  :)

So, today, I prepared my lecture homework on joints and spent the better part of the weekend memorizing the axial bones.  I've had a few drinks tonight, so I decided that I wasn't going to review the bones.  I'm getting up bright and early tomorrow to review my bones and structures for the practical (lab exam) tomorrow morning.  Classes end on the 17th.  4 down, 2 to go.

The Journey to a correct posture

Well, while I was in my Anatomy class today, we were going through the vertebrae and looking at some pathological problems with the spine.  There is this photo in the book that shows a woman who's belly looks very similar to mine and she has a problem with her spine.  So, not only do I have to lose weight, I need to correct my posture.  While I am TOTALLY enjoying learning about our anatomy and physiology, I am learning all about my own problems...all the more reason to lose all this extra weight...I need to start exercising differently!

Journey to Memorial Day

This weekend, my in-laws will be visiting us from Ohio and I'm really excited to see them.  We have a lot of stuff planned!  I hope that we can all go up to Denver and visit with my parents, at least for dinner or something while they're here.  The problem is, I have a whole lot of stuff to do to get ready for NEXT week's classes AND my dad just had heart surgery, so he's probably not going to want to hang out for too long...  We'll see...Then, I have another exam and a project due both on Tuesday.  As you can well imagine, I am not really looking forward to spending the time required to do these things, as I would MUCH rather hang out with my family.  I was hoping that I'd get a small breather, but it is not to be.  At least this is almost over.   I am so looking forward to going on vacation!  I start a new class on the 7th of June so things aren't about to slow down any...

Journey to deployment

Well, the deployment dates have more or less been nailed down.  It's right around the corner.  Finish up with the summer term at the very beginning of July and then we're doing a 3 week venture into England, Scotland and Ireland.  I'm really looking forward to the trip, but I know right after that, I'm going to have to tell my husband goodbye, something I am not looking forward to and I'm not sure I really want to think about.  I will keep myself busy as my company's FRG leader.  Good news, though.  I now have a co-leader and I am really relieved that I don't have to do 250 soldiers and their families during deployment all by myself.

The more that I think about it, the sadder I become.  I have an exam tomorrow and all I can concentrate on right now is the fact that my husband's going to Iraq.  I really, REALLY need to hit the books tonight.  I foresee this as a very long night and I haven't done an all-night study session since...well, not since I've been going to school this time around...

The hubs has made steaks for dinner, so I guess I better get some dinner and then hit the books.

The journey to becoming a nurse

I started my nursing education in Jan of this year. It hasn't been all that easy to come back to school after having been away for such a long while. I received a letter in the mail yesterday announcing the fact that I had made Dean's List, a fact that I knew weeks ago, but merely legitimized it.

I started the summer semester just over 2 weeks ago and it's been a grueling couple of weeks. 4 to go. I have a total of 11 exams plus 4 majors projects and 2 papers--that's just in 4 credit hours, or two classes. I have another 4 credit hour class that begins in June. That class has nothing to do with becoming a nurse, but will help me to become better with my hobby, photography.

And as I write this, my mind is currently on all the homework and memorization that needs to get done, as there are 3 exams this week.