Short ~n~ Sweet

It's been a while... I've been keeping busy working on my nursing portfolio. Time is creeping up on me and THANK GOD I am almost done. I will have it completed and submitted by Dec. 1st and then I will know my fate. I know HE is on my side and am pretty sure grams is putting in a good word for me.

So the holidays are coming up and I have no clue what I am doing. I was hoping to visit mom but I'm not sure yet. I kinda don't wanna leave gramps since this is our first holiday season with out grams. I usually don't see dad since he spends it with his wife's daughter (yeah, my step sister). Guess I'm heading out to Rikki's (my cuz, Aiden's mom)(Oh yeah... Aiden is my nephew from the previous blog... you know... the pics. ). Well I guess that's all for now... I'm gonna get a few things done before I go to bed... I AM ACTUALLY GONNA GO TO BED EARLY... well attempt to anyway. I have this "Turkey Trot" 2 mile run/walk thing at 0600. UGH I KNOW THAT IS EARLY!

I'm gonna share a pic my mom sent...

ENJOY and Happy Holidays if I'm not back by then.

How Pumpkin Pies are made.................

Autumn in the Valley...

The weather appears to be letting up... FINALLY! And while I know I shouldn't hold my breath and I probably just jinxed the entire Valley, I must admit I have been enjoying the cool weather at 85 degrees (F). That is fresh for our area and guess what? Some nights I even get to wear a cute and fashionable sweater. All year long we experience scorching temperatures with intense humidity minus a couple months of Valley cold fronts (60-80 degrees). Everyday is a bad hair day and expect to sweat. I feel like a pair of sweaty, sticky balls that have marinated in gym shorts all day long (What? Guys say that all the time). There are some days where it is so hot my my jeans stick to my ass and thighs that I am ever so tempted to apply a cool patch to my crotch. Not a nice feeling. But like I said, the temperature has dropped the air feels crisp and it actually feels like Fall.


OK, so our trees don't turn beautiful colors (unless you think silver barren trees are lovely) and we don't get to run around in scarves and winter attire, but we do make the best of it. We watch football and BBQ with a beer in hand. We get to wear flip flops all year long. Some days we even get to wear shorts and light sweater (OK I admit that's a little tacky) and our sunsets are beautiful.

We almost have a BBQ every weekend. I made some caramel apples. CAN YOU SAY YUMMY! And I baby sat my nephew this past weekend. I took him to the park and to Donna's Corn Maze. WE HAD A BLAST!

Here are some pics that I've taken that make me thankful for this beautiful season!

My Famous Caramel Apples

My nephew on Hay Bale Mountain
Corn from the Corn Maze

Getting Lost in the corn Maze (More corn)
Aiden at the park

Watching the other kids play

Sunset at the park (Fire in the Sky)

so much to do, so little time...

I finally started on my nursing portfolio a couple weeks ago. Basically, it's a binder full of remediation paperwork that I must complete and submit that will go to a committee and get "graded" in hopes of getting readmitted in the spring. So why am I just now starting to work on it after a couple of months? Hmmm. Let's see... Well when the semester ended and the shock of FAILING dissipated I took advantage of spending QT with grams. After her passing in September, it just took me a while to get into the grove of things again. I realized a little too late that I should have given myself a semester off to work and focus on other things like... ME OK, OK and my portfolio.

I now spend so much time at school that I only go home to sleep and the monotonous cycle repeats. What little time I did have is now consumed by watching NCLEX nursing videos, hours of note taking, and NCLEX practice exams. It's all worth it, but I seriously need some down time. I guess you can consider blogging downtime or my aerobics class "me" time. Actually, what I had in mind was beach (Always sunny here), BBQ, and beer. I have until December 1st, I think, to complete my portfolio for readmission. I'm sure I'll do great. I have my mind set and by next summer (GOD WILLING), I'll be taking state boards to be Cyn RN. AHHH THAT'S MUSIC TO MY EARS! I can hardly contain myself, lol. So many of my friends are now on their way to take state boards. I wish them the best of luck. I still feel "out of the circle" but as they say, "Everything happens for a reason". And it does.

On another note. THANK GOD IT'S HUMP DAY! This week has dragged on way too long.

Time Change...

SUX... If you ask me. Ok... I LOVED the idea that I can be out an extra hour WHEN I WAS 18... but at 28, I make my own rules. I stay out as late as I want, which means I will come crawling in at dawn when ever I damn well please. So when I'm not staying out 'till the wee hours of the morning, I try and wind down early 'cause I actually got shit to do. Like this morning for instance... I set my alarm to wake me up at 9 so I could get up and redo my LIGHTS photo project (Yes... using natural light), well it's actually 10 a.m. so I missed my opportunity to get my morning shot which means I should have been up by 8, or something like that, I've already confused myself. DAMN IT!

Another reason I HATE time change... I woke up at 9 got hungry at 10, which is really 11. So I'm thinking of what I feel like eating but my body feels it's too late for breakfast... So what do I eat? Cereal or chicken salad? If I was at IHOP or Denny's this wouldn't be that difficult 'cause you can eat breakfast anytime of day... I suppose I could too here at home, but it's just not the same. I couldn't decide so I chugged down a big refreshing glass of diet coke... It SHOULD hold me over till I get hungry again and it feels appropriate for lunch time.

I'm done ranting FOR NOW.