The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And some other stuff....

So, I say this every time I post, but it has been a hellacious month.  Let me begin my starting where I left off – my birthday.

The Good:

The Wednesday before my birthday I got a call from the radio station I listen to saying that I won tickets to the Chevelle concert the Saturday after my birthday!  I was pretty excited because I never win anything and I completely forgot that I put my name in the drawing.  Then, Friday (my birthday) I received another call saying that I also won a “meet and greet” with the band before the concert!  Say what?!!!  Brad and I got to meet the band and have a picture taken along with a personally autographed band photo.  How cool is that?  The concert was awesome and it was definitely a great birthday present. 

I also finished off the semester with two A’s, woo hoo! 

The Bad:

Well, even though the concert was awesome and it was a great experience, Brad and I didn’t have as much fun as we should have due to some other issues with Brad’s work.  People that we thought were friends turned out to be really big assholes who were only out for themselves and to destroy Brad due to jealously and revenge.  Some people were trying really hard to get him fired and the Monday after my birthday and the concert was a big meeting, so we had other things on our minds.  The good news (sort of) is Brad still has a job.  On top of everything else going on at his job, the new truck he has been driving for almost a year started to breakdown.  This meant that Brad did a lot of sitting while it was being worked on, which meant less money for us to put towards the house and closing.  The truck went into the shop twice and acted up a third time, so Brad was to take it to the shop again and get in a spare truck until it was finished after the holidays.  Which brings me to -

The Ugly:

Because Brad was behind due to all the sitting around he had to do, he decided to work through the weekend before Christmas and come home Monday night and I decided to go with him over the long weekend.  Well, I met Brad on Friday and first thing Saturday morning, some jackass truck driver decided to pull out right in front of us.  The bastard didn’t even stop at the stop sign, just pulled right out and made a left turn.  The problem?  We were in the right lane coming straight at him.  There were two options, hit his trailer full of cotton or hit the ditch.  Thankfully due Brad’s quick thinking and skillful driving I am here to write this post.  Brad took the ditch route and we hit the approach went up and over it, through a fence and came to a stop.  We both had our seatbelts on and no one was hurt, but the truck was a mess.  I immediately looked at the truck and to my amazement, the fucker kept driving.  I picked up my phone and started running after him and tried to flag down a car because I knew if he left and we didn’t get a license plate or something, he would be gone and it would be a fight with the insurance company.  To my amazement, no one stopped.  Thank God we were not injured because I think we would have died out there waiting for someone to call for help.   So, after a very long day and the guy we were delivering the hay to was sweet enough to drive us to Amarillo so we could rent a car and drive home.  Not only was the accident a major event on its own, not having a truck to drive also meant that Brad was not going to be earning extra money which put us in another state of worry.  The only good thing about the accident, yes, I said good thing, was Brad caught a cold Monday and I think it turned into bronchitis.  So even if he had a truck to drive, he wouldn’t have been able to.  Plus, it gave us time to get the flooring in the new house put in.  So, even as messed up as it all was, it sort of worked out.  The cops did end up catching the other driver, and he maintains that he didn’t see anyone coming (no shit!) and that he wasn’t there when we went into the ditch.  He says we were going too fast for the corner and went off into the ditch.  Now it’s up to the insurance companies, but I really hope Brad’s company insurance doesn’t let that one slide by. 

The Other Stuff:

Due to the accident and Brad’s illness we spent a quiet Christmas at home and went over to a friend’s house for dinner. Christmas didn’t really feel like Christmas this year and after a really crappy December I was just ready to get onto the New Year.  We spent the first week in January laying the floors in the new home and I finished up the tiling last week.  I was so tired afterwards!  I know that there are quite a few spots where I messed up the cuts, but I think did ok for the first time.

And with all of the above going on, I had an interview with an assisted living facility after Christmas and got a job offer last Friday.  Orientation starts on Monday and I’m not sure how many nights I will be working a week, but it’s nice to know that I’ll finally found a job.    Oh, and I also had my PA interview last week, but I will go into that in a separate post.  :o)

Interview Invite!

Yes, it has been almost a month since I last posted.  I am a horrible blogger.  Mainly because my life really is boring and normal.  Ok, well that is sort of true as I received some pretty exciting news last week.  I got an interview invitation!!  Wooo! I got the e-mail last Wednesday after class on my way home.  Thank goodness it wasn't during class because I wouldn't have been able to sit still or keep quiet.  :o)  My interview is on January 10, so I have about a month to prep.  I am going to take advantage of the mock interviews my school does and brush up on the new health care act.  Now that classes are winding down I am looking for a C.N.A job to gain some experience, so if I don't get in this year, I will have that under my belt for next year.    I'm so excited, I can't wait!


Also on the exciting news front, the painters are just about finished painting the inside of the house. After about three weeks of waiting and being at a stand still, they can finally move forward with cabinets and finish work.  The bad thing about this is we will be able to start laying the floors once the cabinets are in.  It's bad only because we are doing them ourselves, but I am actually excited about doing it.  Does that make me weird?  

Anyway, that is really all that has been going on.  Brad and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year.  We celebrated over the weekend and his mom and dad stayed and his sister and two nieces came over for dinner.  We had a lot of fun and dinner turned out quite nicely. 

Classes are winding down - yay!  I took my last chapter exam yesterday in statistics and I think I did well on it.  The comprehensive final is next Monday, and my last chapter exam in pathophysiology is next Tuesday.  After that exam I am a free woman!  Woo!  So looking forward to next week.  :o) 

This Friday is my birthday but we are not planning anything.  Honestly, I would just love if Brad could be home Friday or early Saturday and have a nice quiet weekend together before things get crazy with laying the floors and moving.   This next month is going to be crazy and will fly by.  Before I know it we will be moving in to our new home!

House Pics

Living room

 Kitchen

 Dining area

View of living room from kitchen island

 

 View of bay window in dining area

View of entryway and stairs

Second bedroom upstairs

Master bed and bath

Basement living area

Doors to third bedroom(on right) and office (on left)

 

Door to laundry room

Busy, busy

So much has happened since the last time I blogged that I'm not sure where to begin! I was sick last week and I think it was due to me running myself ragged.  Most of my time has been split between work and school with house decisions mixed in there.  School has been really busy and taking up most of my time.  I took my third test in each class this week and I this time I did well in stats, but not so well in pathophysiology.  I am pretty sure I dropped my grade down to a B with that one, but I have one more test to help make up for it.  Classes are going well, but I will be glad when they are done in a month.

Work has been very busy, which is making my life feel like it's on fast forward.  Usually I have a little time throughout the day to relax and do things like blog, but lately it has been so crazy that I barely have a moment to check my e-mail!

Now, on to the big exciting thing going on in my life.  The house.  :o)  Brad and I went over a couple weekends ago and I took a bunch of pictures.  I think I will dedicate one single post to them alone.  This weekend Brad and I are going to Lowe's to pick out some tile for the bathrooms and light fixtures.  They will begin painting next week and it will be so awesome to actually see the color on the walls!  I am really looking forward to when the cabinets get installed. So far it sounds like we will be moving in around the 15th of December.  That is a guesstimate, but it's what I am planning on either way because I will be finished with finals and will be able to devote all of my time after work to moving everything over.  It still gives me plenty of time to clean the old house too.

I've also been feeling the need to crochet lately.  It all started with this picture from Kate over at The Small Things Blog. 

I love the pattern and thought, I can make that!  So that is what I have been doing off and on this past week. I had some yarn I bought awhile ago for a scarf but never found a pattern I liked, so I dug it out and started crocheting.  I used up two skeins but it isn't quite big enough, so I will need to buy one more to finish it. Here's a close up of it so far. 

I had to run to Alco for a couple of things tonight and while I was there I looked to see if they had any more of the gray, but alas no luck.  I did however find another gorgeous color that I am dying to try this with this pattern!


I know this doesn't sound like much, but these few short paragraphs have really been hectic and have left me exhausted. I am definitely looking forward to next month when classes are done and we are all moved into our new home!

Odds and Ends

It's been awhile, as usual, since I last posted but a lot has been happening!  First, the house is coming along very fast, and Brad and I spent part of a day last week picking out cabinets, colors and all the fun stuff that goes into the home, and today I meet with the plumber.  I haven't seen the house for a couple weeks but we now have windows and the outside of has been prepped for siding!  I will take some pictures tonight and post them on here. The will soon be putting up the sheet rock and we will have actual walls instead of outlines of walls! I can't believe that in a few weeks we will be moving in to our new home!  It's almost a little scary....

In school related news I had two more exams, one in each class.  I'm not sure how I did on my pathyphys exam (I'm hoping at least a B),  but I have to retake my stats exam.  The majority of the class failed it, and even though I passed, it is low enough I want to retake it.  The part I felt so unsure about was actually the easier part of the exam, and the part I felt confident on was the harder part.  I haven't actually seen which questions I got wrong, but I am re-studying everything just to be safe. 

And lastly, in other news Brad was home last week with a slipped disc in his back.  He has been working a lot of hours to bring in extra money for the house and his body is not liking it at all.  He works so hard and I am so proud of him.  We went out on Saturday night for a date night.  We haven't done that in a long, long time.  It was nice to be out just the two of us at a nice restaurant just enjoying each others company.  Things have been really stressful with Brad's job, my school and the house, it was nice to take a small break from it all.  

I finally received my C.N.A license in the mail!!  It's only oh, about a month later than when it should have arrived.  I guess it is a good thing I didn't have a job lined up - in case you didn't know, you can work up to four months from the start date of the class without a license, and it has been five since the start of my class. I have decided to wait until January to look for a second job though.  My stats class is a lot harder than what I was hoping it would be, and I don't want to sacrifice my study time. I'm thinking I might not take any classes next semester and I'll just work part time to get some experience and some extra money to put into savings or toward the house. The only other class that I want to take is pharmacology, but it's not required, whereas the classes I'm taking now are classes are required for the program.  I doubt I'll get in this year so I will have time to take pharmacology later, I need the experience more than the class. 

I'm rambling a bit, but I am tired and I'm at work sitting up front covering the receptionist while she is at lunch and wanted to update this thing with all the happenings of my oh, so exciting life.  HA! :o)

Brag Post

It’s been awhile, but things are trekking along at warp speed.  If you are wondering where the Star Trek talk came from, I have been catching up on The Big Bang Theory episodes.  :o) 

   

Since I last posted I received both of my test scores back and I did very well.  I was expecting a B and hoping for an A- in pathophysiology and I actually ended up with over 100%!!  He gives us 10 extra credit questions at the end and it boosted my grade quite nicely!  I now feel better about my study strategy and will continue with it.  I was a little worried about my statistics exam, but I was able to pull an A-.  I would have pulled an A if I would have read one question a little closer, but lesson learned.  :o)  I have a feeling that I will not be getting as high of marks on the upcoming exams, as this class is getting a LOT harder.  I am having flashbacks to my physics class. *shudder*  At least this professor explains things in a way that I can actually understand. 

In other news, we have walls!!  I have some pictures to post as well, but they are still on my camera.  Brad and I went over and walked around “in” our new home earlier this week, and wow! It’s just crazy to picture what it will look like when the inside walls start going up, cabinets are being hung and the floor is being laid.  It was really nice to actually “see” the space, because on paper it seems like it will be much bigger.  It’s definitely not perfect nor huge, but it is perfect for a first home. 

Catching up.

I apologize for the hiatus.  I have been really swamped at work lately and behind on my reading/note taking at home.  I had a big pathophysiology test on Tuesday and after going camping two weeks ago I felt really stressed about being so far behind.  I. was. freaking. out.!!  I pretty much did nothing but study all weekend this past weekend and even though I was still nervous going into the test, I felt much better afterwards.  I have heard that this class is hard and there is a lot to study, and there is, but I felt the exam questions were very fair and if you study the questions he gives with each section and take notes on the information he gives, there will be no surprises or difficult questions to deal with.  I felt pretty confident through most of the exam until I got to one area I didn’t study as much.  I took a couple of guesses, then erased, then guessed again, then erased again – you see the pattern here.  I can’t remember if I finally filled in my first guesses or not, but I definitely didn’t do too great on those 3-5 questions.  I won’t find out my score until next Tuesday, but I am guessing I have at least a B. (I hope!) 

   

I have a statistics exam on Monday that I need to study for, but it shouldn’t be too bad.  The material has been pretty simple so far, it’s just a matter of remembering some vocabulary, steps to conducting an experiment and a few math equations. 

In other school related news, I finally received my secondary application questions from WSU.  I have until November 1 to fill them out, but I would like to get them submitted by the end of the month.  I‘m almost certain this won’t happen, but that is my goal.  The essays are pretty typical, what volunteer experiences do you have? What leadership service do you have?  I don’t really like these questions because I feel that this is my weak area mainly due to having to work full time while taking evening classes and only seeing my family on the weekends.  I know I am missing out on a bunch of opportunities, but I want to spend the two days I have with my family, with my family. 

And on the home front, we finally have a basement floor, which means they will start framing next week!  

Garage Floor

Basement floor

 

 I can’t believe how things are coming along.  We are at the stage where we get to start picking things out, such as colors and wood grain and flooring, oh my!  We have an idea of what we like, but we need to sit down and see the selection they have.  We have picked out windows and made some changes and I am really excited to see how it turns out.  Here is a couple of inspirations for the changes we made.  

 This is what we would like to do with the window in our closet.  I love the little bench and the storage above the window.  Ours will just be a regular shelf (to start with), but it will be perfect for Brad’s cowboy hats since I won’t be able to reach up there.  Ha! 

  

This is what we would like to do in the living room.  We replaced the huge eight foot window two smaller windows, one on each corner so we can make a lovely window seat area.  I just love this look!  It makes me want to curl up with a good book.  The best thing about this is, if you look closely at the benches, they are just a box sitting next to another box, which means easy DIY project! The hardest part will be figuring out how to make the cushion for the darn thing.

Well, I think I have caught you all up on my life for the moment.  Hope I didn’t bore you too much!