HPKCHC

The dreaded thesis has been sent in. So, I suddenly found myself with time on my hands again! What a marvellous feeling, I got all fiddly and nervous and started fondling ALL of my stash. And believe me, there is some stash to fondle here in my office...

I ended up in the yarn box, with a couple of knitting needles at the ready, but with absolutely no idea what to knit. Ravelry to the rescue! And, speaking of Harry Potter's new adventures on the silver screen, there incidentally exists such a thing as a group of people on Ravelry that are all "wizarding and witching" about, you even get sorted into a house, and there's Quidditch and Potions classes and, and, and... Of course I had to join the madness, and I am proud to say my local yarn shop has seen me twice in the past 13 days, and I have used the yarn as well. I've turned in homework for two classes (Flying and Transfiguration) so far, I have a third homework done (Defense against the Dark Arts, or DADA for short) and I don't think I've had it yet for this month. After all, we're only halfway through!

I seriously hope this DOESN'T mean I have lost the xs-mojo, but that I will find it again one day. I have way too much xs stash to stitch from before giving it up, but I also know that I am a serial crafter - I spend a certain amount of time with one craft, and when I have had it for now, I move on to another craft. And it's a circle, seeing as I don't do much crafting other than knit, stitch, sew and think. Yes, I have a bunch of beads and jewellery stuff as well, but that was a very quick phase. I didn't like it that much, I like jewellery but not the fiddling.

Do you want pictures, you say? Oh well, you don't have to twist my arm, I'll show you. (One of the requirements at the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup = HPKCHC is that you turn in your homework with a picture, so I actually have to take pics of my stuff. Neat.)

A hat for my friend's son, beautifully modeled by my dear daughter - she decided a tiny smile was in order when the subject wasn't her, but the hat she was wearing. Try to get a decent photo of _her_, and you will fail.

A strange, google-eyed picture of me modeling Renesmees hat, so called because the cable on it is the same one used on Bella's mittens (google it, and you will, amongst other things, find a knitting pattern). I have no idea why the pic ended up sideways, it looked alright in my computer... I don't know who will wear it, so wishes will be accepted ;)

I'll probably be knitting quite a lot for a while, we're on the last 6 months of nursing school now - I can't believe I will be a registered nurse this summer! The mere idea of letting me out into the world on unsuspecting patients is a little daunting - what if I don't get a job? What if noone wants me and I end up unemployed? What if I screw this up?

To be continued...

Exam stress

So, the stress of being in school finally caught up with me. I have trouble focusing, butterflies have moved in permanently in my guts, I can't fall asleep at night, and I have this restlessness that leads nowhere. Spells out stress to anyone who knows anything about the central nervous system... So how do I get rid of it, other than getting this exam (saturday) over and done with? Now that my stress is full fledged, I can see that it has been building ever since school started. And I don't have the option of letting my studies lie for a while, I have to keep up to survive financially - and postponing my major paper wouldn't be helping anything (that's what's next on my schedule this fall). I only have 8 months of school left before I'm an RN! - I can see the goal, but the road is so long...

I'll do what I can, though - cut down on non-essential computer time (that means no games, no facebook, no casual websurfing) and try to eat healthy and go to bed in time. At least I get good sleep when I finally fall asleep, unless there is a little girl crying because her butthole is itching (I kid you not, she really did cry over that last night) or because she has nightmares and won't walk through the dark house to our bed all on her own.

Any tips on how to deal with stress would be greatly appreciated - I really feel like life sucks right now. Maybe a bottle of red and a pizza after this exam would help? ;)

Alas, I've let my blog slide

It's been too long this time - but as always, I have a great excuse. Being out in the real world, meeting real patients, really did get the best of me. But now I'm back again for a quick visit, before heading out to a psych ward for 3 weeks!

The huge amounts of snow around the house have disappeared - there is a little left, but not enough to cover the complete mess the builders left behind them. We've already spent several hours picking up nails and screws - about 6 litres so far - and there's still the snuff boxes, the bits of board everywhere, pieces of scaffolding, left over roofing tiles, plastic covers and the occasional tool knife to pick up and dispose of. Granted, there were several days of blizzards when the builders were here, so lots of this stuff was very quickly buried in snow if they didn't pick it up immediately. I'm thinking of making a warning sign: "Do not walk on the dirt - it might contain pointy stuff!"

Inside - we're almost done. Big S and his dad will be hammering all of Easter week to create a floor on the attic, and then there's a shelving thing to put shoes at the back entrance to be built. My office is complete - floss, shelves and all - and I've even managed to clutter it up a bit already. It looks great! :D

I loved almost every second of working at the hospital these 7 weeks - the only thing I wasn't too fond of, were the calici virus. It's a feisty stomach bug, once one patient had it, it took just a few hours before everyone had it. Thank G we didn't have any patients who needed critical care! Most of our patients were on top of it, even if the calici left them a lot weaker than before. Apparently, this was some new strain, because I usually don't get affected, but this time I was down and out for 5 whole days. I was so weak I could only drink blueberry soup and watch daytime tv in between my naps, but on the 5th day I woke up hungry and fit as a fiddle again. Weird...

Today is waffle day here in Sweden, and tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm having two friends over for lunch and cake before picking up H from school. I have to get her by car even now when we live so close to school, because ALL of her clothes are usually wet in the afternoon - I can't carry it all... How I long for all the snow to be gone and to have dry weather!

All my love,

Once again I have survived an exam and apparently come out of it alive - we were tested on acute and long term disorders and complications between the lungs and the knees, with the addition of anything to do with nerves this saturday. Quite the span, don't you think? This time I think it went OK - TG for that!

New term, new class - as of tomorrow I will once again be "out there" and trying not to harm people - and this time I will be in a hospital for seven (yes, 7!) weeks. I've been assigned to a department that works mainly with bowel diseases and syndroms, so I have NO IDEA what kind of sick people (har har - ill should be the right word, right?) I will be trying to keep alive.

At least I now, as of yesterday, know that at least I know how to administer infusions and drugs - I had a practical exam on that, which actually went great - despite the fact that I was nauxious, dizzy and my hands were trembling because I was so nervous. Somehow it all went away when I started working my way through it all, and I even managed to keep everything clean as well as calculating at what rate the infusion should be given. I have no idea what happened, but apparently I am rather good at this stuff...

I've been knitting like crazy to keep the worrybugs out of my head, but with days being short and dark here, I haven't had the chance to get any good pics of it all. I will be knitting some more (had to get me some yarn once I got into the local yarn shop and fondled the stuff some), but I haven't quite decided what yet. Another hat, maybe?

The house is supposedly done next friday, but neither of us really believe it until we see it... We haven't even started packing yet, even though MIL has started collecting boxes for us to pack in - we've just placed them in the shed and tried to avoid the thought. At least we've ordered the new sofa, a new coffee table, a new dining table and chairs, so we'll have plenty of furniture; noone's been interested in buying the old furniture yet, despite our ads in the local paper. I guess we'll end up donating it to the local Red Cross or something? Oh well, we have all of february to move and clean houses, so we'll get there in due time!

Now I've got some yarn to fondle - lots of love!

A jolly good time

I wish you all are having a fantastic Christmas - or whatever you do instead this time of year!

We have, as traditionally in the Nordic countries, already celebrated the birth of Christ, as the 24th is the Day here. We had a nice day with S' parents at their house - lunch, coffee and dinner, with presents spread out a little here and a little there. It's hard work trying to tell a 6-year old that she has to wait for her presents, when they are all there in the open, easily readable for everyone. So we don't. I have horrible memories of my parents at Christmas, telling us kids that the presents were to be opened AFTER dinner, which was always served at 5 in the afternoon. And of course my dad made a point out of eating so slowly that 10 ants would've finished his plate faster than he did. My brother finally had his revenge one year, eating as slowly as he could and so much that he couldn't open his own presents until a couple of hours later than the rest of us - he had to lie down for a while first. But my dad didn't win our own version of a food-fight that Christmas Eve! :) I love you, J!

Tomorrow I'll be going to my folks in Norway with H. We'll be eating, enjoying each others company and I'll be studying. I really do hate the fact that we students don't even get Christmas off, we have big assignments coming up right after New Year's... And then there's the next exam on the 16th of January, which our teachers kindly enough e-mailed us about on the 23rd, saying "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - remember that EVERYTHING from ALL course litterature will be included on the next exam." What a nice Christmas greeting... NOT!
I will never the less try to have a great time with my folks, and enjoy some off time with H - we don't have much of that around here, as there always seems to be something we HAVE to do.

On a side note, there is now a house on our lot. No roofing, but with all the snow we've got these past 3 days that doesn't show - it looks like a proper house, garage and all. It's the wrong colour and only a Tyvek sheet stop the wet from coming through the roof, but that is a worry I will deal with on Monday. The workers won't be back until then anyway.

Lots of updating to do...

First of all, our house has now been placed on the lot! As of today, there is something rather big, in lots of blue plastic, on our lot. There is a door, but that is all that can make someone guess it's supposed to be a house. No roof either. Apparently, it was too windy and cold to "undress" the house, so instead the builders covered it up a little extra and will be back on Monday. Well, at least there is a chance we'll actually end up with a house in the end... Pics to come when there is something to get a pic of, and not just a big blue box!

My last exam went down the drain. I got there, got all the medicine parts without much trouble, and then I got to the nursing part - and that's where it got tricky. This one teacher apparently thinks giving us hints to what we should read is cheating - so instead of actually having her lectures about what we should know (both for the exam and for Later Real Life), she gave two lectures and told us nothing. When we tried to ask what she thought was the highlights (aka what to read), she answered that she could not specify! The questions on the exam (that she'd written) had absolutely nothing to do with what she had lectured about, so an amazing number of us students left that exam feeling tricked. We've complained to the other teachers, but the teacher team doesn't want to talk to her about it, because she's a PhD and they aren't. We'll have to take it up with the Dean. Lots of worried students here...

Gotta go, I've got boxing class!

Digging and filling a hole in the ground

So, it looks like it will be a house after all - I can even imagine little H running on the lawn at the back of the house... We went by the lot yesterday, because the diggers weren't sure how big the patio at the back of the house should be and wanted me to tell them. I made them make it bigger ;)

The big hole in the dirt made a few days ago has now been filled, and tomorrow they will be placing the base construction for the house on top of all the gravel and sand. It'd better not be raining, because the base doesn't tolerate the wet stuff before it's set. If it's not raining, I'll swing by on Friday to get a pic before the actual house is placed on top of the base - on Wednesday! Less than one week from now, there will be a house on our lot!
Of course, H couldn't stand still when there was ice on puddles to be smashed ;) And yes, that is how H looks when she's at school; I'd just picked her up.

On other matters, I now have a 6-year-old in the house. Little H has gained another year to her resume, and I've lost my 5 year old girlie girl. She's still very girlie, but now she wants to add the "cool" ingredient as well - black is a very wanted colour, as it seems, preferably paired with purple... All the parties went well - H celebrated with S's side of the family on Friday (The Day), she had a friend who also turned six last week, so she went to her party Saturday morning (10-12) and then had her own party with the friends from kindergarten in the afternoon (14-18). She went out like a light when she went to bed that night. Then my parents came on Sunday, and there was much fussing and hugging going on all afternoon and into the evening. Mum read H a story, and then the light was out again. I don't think a weekend has passed this fast since we moved house the last time!

I am now studying for yet another exam, this time in medicine, and more specifically pulmonary and circulatory diseases. We'll start with bowels, bones and such next week. Lazy old me probably wouldn't have begun these studies if I'd known just how MUCH studying I'd have to do, but I gather it's too late to stop now, that would just be plain silly... Lots of love!

Huge mortgage coming up...

Things have finally started to happen to our new house; today I made the call to the bank so our bank-person, Karin, could issue the papers to the builders so they can feel assured that we are for real. We are talking big bucks here, our mortgage will be at a hefty 2,4 million SEK - that's a LOT for this area, but at least we'll get a brand spanking new house, exactly the way we want it, and we don't have to do anything to it for at least 10 years. Unless we really want to, of course, but that would be purely recreational, not necessary in any way. Although I can actually see us putting up new wallpaper here and there before then, but I digress.

On Friday I will be quite busy - originally I'd planned on attending a lecture on pain and care of it, but now I'll be staying at home in the morning. Why, you may wonder? Well, we have a meeting with the planning committee, so that we can actually build the house the way we plan to. We don't actually have the permits necessary to start digging on the plot, we haven't actually bought the plot yet either, and even though it's just a formality at this stage, it feels a bit strange that our house will be delivered to the plot in less than a month and we have... nothing. According to the "plot office" (I have no idea what that would be in English) everything happens automatically once we've been to the planning meeting, so I'm betting all my money on that.
Right before that meeting, I'll pick up the paperwork from the bank, and afterwards it's back home, quick change of clothes, get in the car, pick up T at home, and then we're off to see New Moon and do some shopping! As it turns out, we're not actually going to the premiere, because that would be at midnight/Friday morning, but I'm excited none the less! T & I will be taking a small shopping round, I plan on getting little H new ballet shoes, and then we'll meet up with the others for dinner out before going to the movie.

The way I blabber about it, it sound like I haven't been out for years - and I haven't. Sad, huh? Oh well, I plan to make up for it eventually, it hasn't exactly been my first priority the last 10 years...
Gotta go read about hypertension and stroke care now, lots of love!

Fabric give-away and exam results

This last exam has to be the quickest one yet: I was actually done after 15 minutes, but you're not allowed to leave the room until after 40 minutes, so I did the exam questions once more, checking everything at least twice before writing the answers on the reply form. And the results were in yesterday night (another record) - I passed. *happy dancing around the room* Now it's on to the serious stuff: respiratory diseases...

On another, more fun note, I entered a fab give-away at the Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe Wish me lots of luck!

Yeah. so?

We've been getting really strange messages on how our house is coming along - all of a sudden we received a letter from the head office that our house would be ready for us Jan 29 - when we thought the latest 6 week delay would be enough... So, now it looks as if we'll be staying at a hotel for two months, as we said we didn't want the house we're renting longer than dec. 31st. The house seller says he's sorry, but he can't do anything, as the head office calls the shots here. Yeah, so? Do we care about that? NO, we want our house this year, as promised!!!

Needless to say, big S, who usually is the worry-wart in this household, is falling to pieces, I try to behave my best but still we get into these nonsense fights that basically happen because I think we can be a teensy bit diplomatic when we talk to the seller, because it's not his fault. And bring out the big guns when we talk to the head office. Big S thinks we should bring out the cannons from the closet, and perhaps a few bombs too, so the factory will build our house faster. Like that's helping...

At least we both acknowledge the fact that we're not really angry at eachother for this, even though I did break a plate yesterday because he wouldn't listen to me when I didn't say anything... Makes sense, no? Break a plate, get everyone's attention. It was the first time I tried that, actually, and the plate was not a favourite of mine, but then I had to clean the mess myself - so I know that's not something I'm going to do much in the future.

So, in Sweden we're a bit frustrated AND I have a serious calculus exam on monday - how to calculate medications; you know, pills, solutions, Oxygen, International Units to ml, that sort of thing. And on this exam you have to have a 100% score, or do it over and over until you understand and can be let loose on the actual patients of this world. Usually, only 20% of the nursing students get it on the first exam, so I'd be in good company if I mess up. Which I probably will, by going to fast and not reading the questions properly, and thus giving a completely different answer than intended. Wish me luck!

Loose in the real world again!

So, we've been let out of school and they've set us loose in the real world this week! This time I've actually been allowed to punch a needle into someone and see if they have blood in them! And yes, I was successful. We've been trained in how to draw capillary blood before, but this time we actually set the needle to skin and got entire blood samples! It wasn't half as scary as I thought, probably because I've mostly been angry that I haven't been ALLOWED to even try on another nurse, so when it finally happened, I was so stunned I didn't think too much - and hit the motherload on the first try. :)

On the microbiology side of things - I'm a bit shocked at how experienced nurses, with the wealth of knowledge they have on bacteriae, viruses and diseases, don't even use gloves when poking holes in people and drawing blood! Lots of the time, they don't even disinfect their hands between patients - and who knows what that patient had on his/her hands after their visit to the bathroom?!?! I admit that I might be a little overly cautious and too aware of the dangers in this world now, but I firmly believe that if you're working in a health facility you need to get real and see that you're not dealing with healthy people who can take minor infections without even noticing them, you're dealing with people who already have something to struggle with and who don't need more germs in their systems!

Shoot me at will if I'm wrong (I know I'm not), but it's a question of common curtesy to keep your hands clean - whether you work with sick people or not! Would YOU want to have poo on your hands after shaking someone else's hand??? Same thing with sneezing - snot - or picking your nose... Sure, do it if you want, but clean your hands before touching ANYTHING else! What's on your hands right now will in four seconds be in your eyes, mouth, food...
Ok, so that was this week's rant - do let me know if I have made ANYONE better at washing their hands after this ;)

So, microbiology, eh?

Microbiology is HARD!!! There are so many names of different bacteriae which cause all kinds of problems - I sincerely hope noone is expecting me to remember ALL of it...I do understand why we, as nurses, should recognize the problems and infections most likely to occur, but I don't understand why we need to know what the different antibiotics do to the bacteriae and what they're called! I feel the need for some chocolate here...

At least so far, I almost understand what the teachers are talking about - the immunebiology part is a bit tricky, but I'll get there somehow!

I'm not crafting at all right now - I'm so numb in my head when I put down the books at night, I re-read easy books like Twilight and watch True Blood on tv. Can you believe they NOW are showing it here in Sweden, when the lead male (Alexander Skarsgård)is swedish and it's a hit tv show in the US??? Yep, they are a bit slow over here, but to help things a bit they have a website where you can watch the latest episode online, in excellent quality, whenever you want, so you never miss an episode. At least that's something. After the first episode, I was seriously doubting anyone who thought anything good about Sookie, but she kinda grows on you - yes, she's naive, but also very kind and clever. Must be a great part for an actor, that's for sure. I look forward to the more steamy parts coming up... ;)

That's it for now - I'm working on a new blog layout, but computers combined with scrapping isn't usually my cup of tea, so I'm having some trouble with the sizing. I'll keep on trying, though!

Lots of love,

Yeah. I know.

It's been too long since my last update - one might be fooled to believe I'd given up on blogging? But alas, here I am again. You don't get rid of me that easily. I had to buy one of those usb-sticks that give you mobile internet (even though I had promised myself NEVER to get one of those), but here I am once again.

Life is working it's way through the days, and my little H is now a school girl. Not a happy one, yet, but it's only been two weeks. This morning she cried from the moment she realized she was going to school today too, until I left her at school with one of her teachers. Basically, it s*cked. (Completely new little girls don't have many friends, and today the only one wasn't there... That's not helping.)

My own school is starting again this monday, with a 5 week course in Microbiology - so I hope, but don't expect, to be online at least a couple of days a week. We'll see how difficult the course is, the book is horrible - lots of characterizations of different bacteria and viruses, page up and page down. I've tried reading it ahead a little, but I keep falling asleep. (Have I told you about this book before? I think I have, I first gave up on it to read the Twilight books :D)

On the crafty side of life, I don't xs much, but I've knitted LOTS of Barbie clothes and a pair of baby socks that are yet to be finished - a seam up the back is all that is keeping me away from them... (My S is now "grandmother's brother" to a beautiful baby girl! I keep teasing him about how old he's become... He doesn't appreciate it.) I've also tried my hand at some patchwork, and as usual, squares don't agree with me. Oh well, some fancy quilting made that disappear, and it wasn't like I made it for someone else either - it's been turned into a bag to keep my knitting stuff from overflowing the living room.
Enough talk, bring on the pics, I hear? Allrighty then, I'm only too happy to oblige:


Scrapping credits go to BrownieScraps for their free kit One summer day, and to The Latest Scoop, Too for the Sweet Summer Breeze_Date Stamp Set, which fit perfectly with the rest of the stuff. (I'm not that good at scrapping - yet - but I thought it would be more fun to look at than just a line-up of crafty pics ;)

This year's finals

are OVER!!! Yippee!!! I'm so happy, now I'm having a summer vacation - at least for a couple of weeks, then I get to practice a little in care of the elderly in my NEW home town :) I've got about 10 night shifts, and an unknown number of day shifts in the home care - it's not a huge income, but I think it will be enough - I need my summer holiday as well, to craft, move and muster up some energy for next school year.

Today I sang with the church choir for the last time, too. I kept thinking that this was it, and then had to remind myself that I have 4 more solo performances with my choir leader Ruben until we move. Actually, the two last performances will be when we HAVE moved, and the very last one is the day we sign the release forms on the house... Ruben had bought everyone a small "thank you for this year"-gifts - the little 'uns got small silver heart pendants, the bigger ones got bigger silver crosses (kinda celtic) - and I got a short speech before he presented me with a beautiful gold heart and chain. I'm wearing it now - and I will certainly remember my choir every time I see it. Not that I would forget them without it, but you know what I mean.

Stitching wise I have nothing to show - not that I haven't done any stitching, but my camera is acting up on me, and I've ordered a new one. I've completed the Just Nan Sizzle (both the "over the top" and the "in the tin" parts), and yesterday I started on something I've wanted to stitch for SOOOOO long now - the Lavender & Lace "The spirit of Christmas" (The pic is borrowed from Marilyn's garden, a yahoo group - I hope mine will look as good as this when it's all done and framed.)


Other than that - I've tried AGAIN to buy myself a Barbie to model for me, and this time I specifically said to little H that she is ALL MINE - it seems to be working ;) I've started cutting fabric for a white dress from the pattern of the fabulous molendrix (at least that's what it says on the pattern), which I hope to have completed this week. After all, that's what glorious sunshine and spare time is supposed to be spent doing, isn't it?

Study, study, study...

That's all I do right now - now that the "internship" has ended for this time, I have to write a paper on it as well. I'll be writing about my little lady, who got to eat again; I'm happy to report that she now has ALL her meals orally, and says it's "delightful" to eat again... :)

That part of the paperwork isn't the problem - I have to write a background and a discussion as well as explain how and why I did the actual "test meal". And of course there are certain stuff that's supposed to be included, like laws and regulations on the subject, recent scientific reports on the same subject and so on. And I only have today and wednesday to do it - tomorrow's school ("action learning" on the meal situation) and on wednesday we'll all be off from work/school/daycare because we're going to see a man about a house!

For those of you who remember last spring, we almost bought a house - a new one, with a fab bathroom, still it didn't FEEL right, so we let that one slip. Now we're off to see a magnificent house built in 1909, with fireplaces, old country kitchen, 6 huge oak trees in the garden... A lot more like ME, plus it's in hubby's hometown, so it would be great for H to be near her grandparents, cousins and aunt. My folks still have to travel, so another 40 minutes more or less really shouldn't matter. And this house has plenty of rooms, so they get to sleep in the house in stead of going night-night in the "guest house" in the garden and pee in the bushes in the dark...

The price is right too - a couple of hundred thousand kroner less than the new one last spring ;)

Have you made a difference in someone's life today?

- I have! :)

I'm out doing my 3-week "internship" now, and after one week I have made a difference! There's this woman, who hasn't been allowed to have her food orally for three months (she has a feeding tube right into her stomach)- and noone's wondered why or if she could try having "real" food until I came along. I went digging through her file, and after consulting the resident nurse, we gave it a try. She had yoghurt, a banana and water - all different consistencies, and it worked wonderfully! No problems swallowing, no coughing or alike - so now she will be getting at least two small meals a day orally! She was so happy after that first meal - she loves food, and now she can enjoy the taste of it again.

I'm doing my first happy dance as a nurse! (Albeit still student nurse, but none the less...)I actually feel like I mattered - and it's a great feeling, I can assure you!

Exam results!

The results are back - I scored a whooping 93% on the Anatomy and Physiology exam! *whoohoo* *dancing around the floor, trying to avoid tons of Lego*

And when I looked at my schedule, it dawned on me that I've already done half the time on campus - we'll spend 3 weeks IRL, meeting real people with real nursing needs. Yep, we'll be spread out on nursing homes all over the area - beware, old people, here comes the highly motivated nursing students! :D

I spent yesterday making more Barbie doll clothes - a nightie; H didn't have any for her dolls, as she discovered when she turned a shoe box into a queen size bed and wanted her dolls to go to sleep. No good in the nude, apparently... A strapless sundress - that turned out fabulous, if you ask me :) - and it suits both new and old Barbies; the pattern was from an old mag I had for the old Barbies, but it turned out good for the new ones as well. And then a top and a music skirt - gotta love that fabric!

Just a small note on the Barbies: I actually bought the Theresa one for myself, to use as a model, but H loved it so much she traded for the fierce blonde to the left :) She's a lot easier to dress and undress than the others, because she has those hard plastic legs - H can actually get her into a pair of pants all by her self...

It's choir this evening - gotta go get ready! :)

New semester, new class

So the new class has started - principles and methods of nursing II sounds very interesting, doesn't it? Well, so far it looks like another tough one. All work and almost no play - but that's what studying on a higher level is all about, isn't it?

The saturday exam went well, thank you for asking. :) Not a full score, but I should pass with flying colours - with the usual disclaimer of "if I haven't completely misunderstood something". (But of course I got a feverish H back from daycare on Friday afternoon, so no celebrations this weekend, or yesterday.)
But saturday was ALL MINE!!! After the exam I went to see an ex-colleague now friend, M. She's recently divorced, got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (and bad too) and gluten intolerance, and lost her job - yep, she had it all happen at once... Now she's afloat again, but the arthritis isn't treating her very good, with the pain and all. This is a VERY active woman, she now works as a PT at a gym; do you have the Duracell (batteries) bunny commercials where you live? If so, that's how she is - she'll go and go and go and go until she's all drained out and needs a snack - and then she'll start over.
We had the best time - a true girls' night (read: afternoon) complete with ice cream and nail varnish. And still I was home before I was due in bed for my beauty sleep ;)

Yesterday I was at home with H, so she could recover from the weekend, and we got great things done: A bag for S' niece, a portemonnaie (fancy word for coin purse) for my niece - and I completed Barbie's winter (bath)robe!!! Pics will come in due time, I have some pressing to do still. Today after school we made two kinds of cupcakes, so I guess you could say I'm on a roll... I have a feeling this happened last year this time around too, this feeling of actually getting some crafty business done, and I believe I have now learnt to just relax, enjoy the ride and use the camera frequently - this too shall pass, sadly.

Test results are back!

I passed!!! I'm so relieved, even though I had a feeling I should've passed, I was still very nervous about it. I scored 31,5 points out of 39 possible, so I'd say it was acceptable ;)

Now to keep on reading, so I can understand the anatomy and physiology bit as well...


H's birthday is coming up(27th nov.), her present is all wrapped up. She's getting a DVD set with 7 Barbie princess movies - as if she didn't have any dvds to watch... She'll love it anyway, and we'll be putting our spare tv in her bedroom, so she can watch tv there if she wants to be alone. That happens a lot lately, she thinks we talk too much when she's watching... I'm just happy we TALK about something other than her! We've planned and invited her three gf's from daycare for her birthday, so now we just have to decorate the cake next saturday morning, set the table with princess stuff and get out of the way :D I love having a daughter! If only the days didn't end so fast...

I've started planning for Christmas as well - today the snow is barely covering the ground; it made that special sound when we walked to daycare this morning.
I've made a toy bag for one nephew, bought toys for the two youngest, made a wristlet for my sis, will make a "car junk bag" for my brother, but I have absolutely no idea what to get my parents or my niece and two nephews that are teenagers... I'm no good with teenagers, at least not when it comes to what to give them. I could go the safe route with my sis' oldest and get him glassware, but that is kind of boring... Any and all ideas welcome!

Follow-up post

*Gasp* *shocker* I'm posting several times this week! Well, don't get too used to it, as my next class is Anatomy and Physiology - I'm guessing here, but I think I will have my hands full...

I just thought I'd give anyone interested an update on my exam yesterday! It actually felt good - I thought I didn't know anything, and then the test landed on my desk and as I started reading the questions the overall feeling was: "Hey - I know this stuff!" I still spent 3 hours on it, as I first made a rough sketch of what I wanted to say and get my juices flowing, and then actually started writing my answers on the test papers. A full score would be 39 points, but approved is only 23 points, so if I haven't completely messed up I should be approved. (Not approved or approved are the only grades used.) There were some tricky questions, which I might not get full score on, but I believe I can afford that...

S and H went to see H's grandma and grandpa - and won't be back until tomorrow, so apart from having to vacuum the house and do some dust-busting, I'm free to do whatever I want until tomorrow afternoon! I think I'll go fondle my stash now... After all, I have a 12 houses sampler waiting for the final stitches, and then there'll be pics here again!