Cinco de Mayo

Just puttering around online while my house sleeps. I can hear Mike snoring through the wall between our bedroom and my office, but other than that (and the tick of my wall clock) the house is quiet. I have been reviewing NCLEX questions and oncology notes for most of the evening and felt like taking a little break. Of course, my original plan was to fall in the bed as soon as the kids were tucked in around 10:30. Then, it was like, "Oh, let me just finish reviewing this page of notes. Well, there's only 6 pages total and I'm already on page 3, so I might as well finish the packet." From there I remembered Cousin Barrett mentioning he had posted a comment to my blog, so I logged on. I checked out a couple of the blogs I follow and was amused with their updates. Then I decided I was tired of the purple bunny and kind of difficult to read text on my blog. Being a cradle Catholic I realize that there are still 2 Sundays of Easter left, but I was ready for a change. After several unsuccessful attempts to log on to "the cutest blog on the block," I found this new background on "hot bliggety blog" (cute name, huh?) and it reminded me of the festive skirts of the ballet folklorico dancers. In turn, that reminded me that Cinco de Mayo is just days away. I'll have to plan my Mexian fiesta for Wednesday instead of our traditional "Tex-Mex Tuesday" theme this week. I have a new overnight taco casserole recipe I think I'll try. I'll have to do black bean salsa and guacamole. Mmmmm! I'd better start getting my list together. First I have to get through my final exam on Monday and my summative evaluation with my instructor on Tuesday. Wednesday will certainly be a great day for celebrating! Until next time (which may be after Cinco de Mayo has come and gone which is why I mention it here on el primero de mayo)

You know you're getting old when...

...your shoulder starts hurting after walking around the block for exercise! Okay, I could almost understand an aching knee or hip. Even a tender ankle would make sense. Friday morning, Cousin Barrett happened by before work. I told him to bring his walking shoes because we were going to cruise around the block a time or two. About halfway thru our excursion my left shoulder began to hurt a little, like if I could just spin my arm around and make it "pop" it would feel better. It just kept getting more and more uncomfortable throughout the day. I found myself guarding it and mashing around my shoulder to see what type of pressure elicited the pain. Sleeping wasn't too bad as long as I stayed off of my left side. Bending over caused a throbbing pain; otherwise it was just a constant ache made worse with squeezing and prodding.
Now, you must understand that the topic of study for the final weeks of nursing is the big C word. And, my instructor just said last week that everyone sitting in our classroom more than likely has cancer cells in their body...If you've ever watched mystery diagnosis or read patient information about something a friend or family member has and realized that you, too, have whatever, then you know just where I'm heading with this! Mothers can never settle for a minor diagnosis. If you're running around in the cold without a hat on your head, you're going to catch not a common cold, but pneumonia. If you miss the mattress as you jump from one bed to another, you're going to break your neck, not simply walk away with a bruise.
Anyway, I started to consider a small spot I noticed weeks ago on my back near my shoulder. It just looked like an insect bite of some sort. I think it even formed a little blister, but it eventually went away leaving a dark brown spot. Now, my shoulder is hurting in the same vicinity?! Hmmm? It must have been a brown recluse bite and my walking and swinging my arms released the toxin into my surrounding tissues! For heaven's sake! No swelling of my respiratory tract, no evidence of flesh being eaten away from the spot. What else could it be?
After church this morning, I was in mucho pain-still guarding with limited range of motion in that left arm. I took an Advil. Mike insisted we run over to our Doc-in-the-Box right up the street and have them look at it. Closed on Sundays-Since when?! We drove around looking for a couple other "minor emergency" type clinics to no avail. We finally ended up at USMD emergency department. Miraculously enough, it went pretty smoothly. They took my vitals, asked me what happened (as in any precipitating factors), x-rayed my shoulder. Then the doctor came by and asked some of the same questions. He had me hold my arm this way and that and push against his hands from this position and that. He finally said he suspected nothing more than a shoulder strain--a touch of tendonitis. Treatment includes a sling to "rest" the shoulder until it is no longer painful, Flexoril, Lortab & Motrin--good grief! The Advil pretty much did the trick because my arm was already feeling a little better in spite of the "exercises" the doctor put me through. Probably won't be filling those big guns to just have them sit on my cabinet shelf and expire. Oh well, let me get back to work. Just thought I'd share the joys of aging. Until next time...

Frustration

Ahhh, what a day of frustrations. I'm stressing over Monday's exam and my ever increasing list of "things to do" as the semester winds down and Alisa's and my graduations draw near...all of which I'm eagerly anticipating. I realize that I cannot do everything and do it all well, so I have to choose my battles, but SHEESH! Let me just tell you about how today went...
Got up and got children off to school. Returned home by way of Walgreens (for much needed toilet paper and 50% off Easter candy) to complete and submit paperwork for clinical. Made Alisa's lunch and was about to run it to her and perform my weekly lunch monitor duty when the phone rang. It was Alisa, "Mom, could you bring my pencil bag and the bag with the gumdrops and hot glue gun?" "You bet, I'm on my way." I gathered the items, plus Alisa's lunch and some empty Frito Lay chip bags I'd been meaning to turn in since Spring Break (recycling project) and headed out the door. Lunch went smoothly (well, as smoothly as one can expect with the "Cafeteria Nazi," Mrs. J, screaming for the kids to "Quiet down" the entire half hour), and I returned home, reconciled the checkbook, made a call about an "other" charge on my mortgage statement and paid a couple of bills. I finished off half of a serving of spaghetti and planned to hit some review materials pretty hard when my eyes started feeling heavy. I figured I'd be much more productive after a little nap. {I should be studying.}
After the nap, I dragged out of bed and tried to strategize the remainder of my day-Wells Fargo to pay the mortgage, library to return/pick up books, post office to mail bills... Before I knew it it was time to pick up Alisa from school. She hopped into the car asking if I'd seen her math book at home (Great! Another lost item...that makes two for Alisa this week!). I don't remember seeing it. We went directly across town to hear the Gunn Jr. High Symphonic Band perform for the UIL competition at 4:10 {I should be studying} then made our way back across town to execute the above-mentioned errands-house note, library, post office before returning home. Alisa didn't find her book and began with her preteen melt down routine: whine, vent on Facebook, get angry, feel sorry for self, cry, etc. I got on the phone with the public library as I could have sworn that a librarian once told me that you could access textbooks online somehow. I was transferred here and there, and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. {I should be studying.} I wish I could have been more sensitive to Alisa's plight, but how many times have I suggested that she put her things away as soon as she's done with homework? In fact, it seems I had reminded her just last night to put her book and assignment away, and I thought she had.
Anyway, this is getting way too lengthy. I picked Aaron up from school after their return from competition, attended the 6th grade graduation meeting at Alisa's school (thought it started at 6:30, but realized at 6:10 that it had started at 6:00), returned home, made dinner (burgers on the G. Foreman & onion rings), did dishes {I should be studying}, put away food, helped with homework {I should be studying}, and prayed with my kids before they turned in 30 minutes past their bedtime-which in all actuality means 30 minutes into MY time.
I logged onto Software for Nurses to finish some case studies (both for class and for a review) and got bumped off halfway through the module--Aaarrrrggghhh! How can my computer be acting up when I only need it to cooperate for a few more weeks?! That's when I decided to get all of this off of my chest. The time is now almost 11 p.m. Mike is home from work, and I'm ready to turn in for the night (yeah, right!). I will finish at least one module before I do. I'll leave you with the following thought.
I remember my days as a Brownie (that's a precursor to Girl Scouts so you know that was a long, long time ago!) when we would end our meeting by joining hands in a circle singing the following lyrics to the tune of "Taps": Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. *sigh* Nice to know that at the end of even the most frustrating of days it's okay to rest securely in the knowledge that God is indeed nigh. Until next time...