The Good Times Keep On Rollin'....

Things have been mildly frustrating lately, that's the best I can describe life lately...mildly frustrating.....

My last post started with me applying for the nursing program...so let's start there, shall we? Long story short, I didn't get in. There were 276 applicants for 40 spots. Everyone was getting notified about program acceptance except for me, it seemed. I didn't hear anything for 10 days after the initial offers were sent out. 10 very long, hellish days. Everyone kept telling me that 'no news was good news' because it meant I was still in the running. Well, I was still in the running, but just not strong enough to finish. I finally got someone on the other end of the phone that I had been incessantly calling for the last week on a Wednesday morning, and by noon of the same day, I had a nice little lump of coal email waiting for me in my inbox..."Sorry, but you aren't the applicant we were looking for..." niiiiiiiiiiice. I sobbed in a most heart broken manner for about 4 hours. I really, really wanted this! Why couldn't this one thing just go my way for once? Huh? So, I allowed myself to mope and whine for the rest of the day. Self pity is good in small doses once in awhile. My sweet husband came home in the middle of my melodrama and gave me a good, long hug and said, "Sorry...I know how bad you wanted this..but what have you wanted longer? To get into nursing school, or for me to get a teaching job?" I answered to the latter...more on that development later...
So, I didn't get in, I moped for a few hours, and moved on. Then I got a call from the IHC nursing program, making sure I had been 'contacted'. Yeah...I got the contact..thanks a billion! But the sadist in me couldn't stop there, oh no, if you could, pretty pretty please, tell me why I didn't get in? She did...it was brutal. I was in the very final group and in the end, my employee evaluation scores were just not quite high enough. They offered to 40 students and 4 alternates...that's 44...and me....I was number 45. Sigh So, it's not meant to be right now, and I will just have to wait until Spring of 2015 until I start nursing school, because that is where I fall on SLCC's wait list. SLCC has changed their admission requirements as well, and I am one of the last on their wait list, as they are doing away with it. So I could possibly get in sooner under the new requirements, but if I get rejected there, I will still have that spot. So it will eventually happen, just not on the time frame I had hoped for.

So, Rob got a teaching job! So freaking awesome! He is a History and Social Studies teacher for a very small private school here in the Salt Lake Valley, and it all seemed very exciting until he got into it. He has been there for a month and they have already had to move locations. It wasn't the school's fault they had to move...the church basement they were in didn't meet fire code for schooling purposes, and the church congregation decided at the last minute that they didn't want a free remodel of their basement...weirdos...so the school had to find new digs. They have successfully done so, and are at a much nicer and closer location. Hopefully they can stay there for the long term. The kids are a rough bunch, and that is putting it nicely. Most have been kicked out of the traditional public school system, and some have served time. They are very learning challenged and the parental support is minimal at best. Rob's biggest frustration is the fact that these kids don't want to do any work, at all. The pay isn't all that stellar either, but it is pay and we are grateful for it! Well, there are issues with that too, but we have at least gotten ONE paycheck....

I finally took my kids to the dentist last month...I figured that since I was paying for benefits, that I should probably use them before the end of the year! Jaron and Quentin had clean oral bills of health, Brenna and Cade weren't so lucky. Brenna ended up with a cavity that was so severe, that one of her molars had been steadily falling out in chunks. I had known about this for months, but had been waiting for a little extra money, so I could take them in...because I knew that Brenna's situation was going to cost. It probably wouldn't have cost so much if I had just gotten her in sooner. As it turns out, when I took her back to take care of the bad tooth, they had to drill so deep, that some of her nerve was exposed. I suspect that when they did that, they also pushed some of the infection up into the nerve space and it turned into an abscess. Two weeks after this neato keen appointment, Brenna started complaining of horrible mouth pain and headache. I called the office back and they told me that it sounded like she needed a root canal....WHAT? Oh, and they didn't do those there and I would have to find a general dentist to do it. After much calling back and forth, they finally referred me to one..right down the hall from them. I took her in, sure enough, there was a large abscess and they had to open the tooth, drain the abscess, and pack the nerve root with antibiotics. This was only the start of the root canal. The soonest appointment they had to be able to finish the job, was February 1st. Yeah, they are kind of busy there. Then they will finish the job and then she will need a crown. This will all be to the tune of around $700. At least my insurance will cover 50% of it...but still! Yike! One other blessing is that the new dentist will allow us to make payments on the amount until it is paid off...so we can make that work. Rob has voiced concern that the original dentist had some responsibility in creating this very expensive mess and should be held responsible in some part. I really like this pediatric dental practice, but I really don't know how to broach this issue. 'Hey, uh, you kind of caused a huge mess in my daughter's mouth, and I shouldn't have to pay you for it..?' I don't think they will take too kindly to that. But if I never ask, I'll never know...so I need to figure it out. Any diplomatic suggestions?

I switched health plans this year during Open Enrollment from my $200 a month premium plan, that I couldn't afford to pay the co-pays on, to a no premium, high deductible plan with a Health Savings account attached to it. With my first payroll deduction of the amount of my choosing, Intermountain will deposit $750 right off the bat into said account. Bonus! So when I took Jaron in for his yearly visit with the pediatrician in May and he told me that Jaron had scoliosis and needed a back x-ray to confirm how severe it was, I didn't know how I was going to be able to work that one. Now I have a way, I will just have to wait until January to do it. It will all work out eventually, right?

The Unknown

I applied for my company's nursing program on August 1st....I am waiting, with absolutely no idea if I will even be notified whether or not I am even in the running. My local community college is no longer accepting applications for the Nursing, Radiologic Tech, and Dental Hygiene programs. I was accepted onto the wait list this past December, and am promised that their program suspension will not affect the start date they have given me. They say they are revamping their admissions process, either way, I will start this new career path...someday.

The kids have started school and are pretty happy so far. Quentin got sent to the office for misbehavior, and it was only the 2nd day! He said he was just feeling really tired and didn't want to work. He has been grounded - he is NOT happy about that and asked me endless questions about why such a punishment existed. I explained to him (numerous times) that we institute punishments so that the next time he feels like doing something naughty, he will remember how much he didn't like the consequence and NOT to repeat the action that got him there the last time. I don't think the answer suited him, because he was back 5 minutes later with the same question....He likes to do that. If an answer or situation is not to his liking, he starts this intense, badgering question session. I guess he figures he can wear us down with it, it hasn't worked yet!
We made a quick trip out to California this past weekend for Rob's 20 year High School reunion. It was nice to see some people that I knew, but the reunion itself was kind of a disappointment. At least we ended up winning a $40 GC to The Cheesecake Factory for having the most children out of anyone else in the room! That kind of made up for the $120 we had to pay to go to this thing for everyone else's alcohol consumption and getting no dinner. The impromptu reunion that my husband put together the night before was much better, and much more fun!
I had the wondrous opportunity to go on a FABULOUS cruise to Alaska this past July. It was the ultimate vacation, and I will have to post pictures at a later date! It was a week with my husband and his family and NO KIDS! It took me awhile to figure out how to function!
It has been an awesome summer, but now the waiting for a possible big change in my life begins...

So Much.....

I finally finished Pathophysiology, and I pulled a B+ out of it - I was quite satisfied with that. The class was wonderful and even the instructor said it was one of the best classes she had had in a long time. We had the best class jokes going and it made lecture really entertaining! Like with end stage renal disease....there is a condition called uremia, which basically causes uric acid crystals to be excreted through the pores of the skin, making the victim sparkle....we then proceeded to diagnose the Cullen family with end stage renal disease....get it??? Well, it was hilarious to us....

I am still working at Riverton Labor and Delivery and still very much loving it. It has been one of the most fun jobs I have ever had the privilege of having. I have met some truly wonderful women here, that I am honored to call friends. I lost one of those friends on Saturday, April 30th. My friend and co-worker, Wendy Mack, passed away due to a coarctation repair failure. She was 32 years old, and 33 weeks pregnant. I found out a few days after the event, that the ambulance crew was actually headed to us, because she was scheduled to deliver here. But, there was a massive accident on I-15 that night, so they diverted to American Fork hospital instead. I feel bad for my colleagues at that hospital that had to do such heart rending work, but I am eternally grateful to them. You see, I was the scrub tech that night and had they ended up coming here as planned, I would have been down there in the middle of that horrible section. Looking back on it, I probably would have done it, it was my job, but I don't know how well I would have dealt with it afterwards. And like I said before, I am eternally grateful that I won't have to know. As it was, by the time I got home Sunday morning, I was an emotional wreck. I could hardly stop sobbing long enough to get out the news to my husband, I think I scared him a little.... I will miss her, she definitely was a shining example of the best of womanhood, and I would hope to someday be a fraction of the good person that she was.

I got some good news the night before Wendy's funeral....IHC is opening up their nursing program again for a January 2012 start, they take applications starting August 1st....I have an alert set up on my phone and everything. I actually have a chance this time, and I am pretty excited about it. I'm not getting my hopes up too high though. They are only taking 40 students and it is very competitive. I have all A's and B's and one C+, so I don't know what my chances actually are, but I have some hope that I might have a fighting chance of getting in!

Brenna made the National Junior Honor Society and they had a big induction ceremony and everything, such a proud day...








Jaron turned 11 last month and went on his first overnight campout a couple weeks ago, he was sooooo excited!





Cade's 10th birthday is today and his friend party is this weekend, he is really looking forward to it.



Quentin's last day of pre-school is today, and as of last week, he is sporting the toothless look. He has lost his two front teeth on top, and he is pretty cute!



Haedyn is saying more and more every day and is extremely busy. She has started a nasty nipping habit that she thinks is hilarious..we are nipping that one in the bud early...she loves to bring you things....from all over the house. If something can't be found, the blame usually falls on her!




I finally finished the last picture of my family wall collage that hangs in my kitchen and I updated the kids pictures in the collage. I guess I'll have to post a picture, I was pretty impressed, if I do say so myself....

Okay.....

Yup, slacking again. But with Facebook and all, it's kind of hard to remember to come back to this blog. So, here I am...blogging in the wee hours of early a.m.
Brenna, straight A's...is anyone surprised? She is taking Art this time around and I thought she would be happier about it but I guess she isn't so happy about the teacher, so that has taken any excitement about the class away. She excels at everything except the mile run. She LOATHES it and she is unable to get anything higher than an A- in P.E. because she can't seem to get her time under the required 10 minutes. We all have to have our challenges, eh? She came home just last week with her 8th grade schedule request. She has an option to take beginning guitar next year and ceramics and because she is so advanced in reading, she will test out of that and be able to take a foreign language. She has signed up for Spanish, Daddy is thrilled!
Jaron, he is very active in Scouts and will soon be moving on to Boy Scouts and campouts and such. He is excited! He is wrestling for Herriman High's Jr. League. He has started taking piano lessons and so far, he seems to love it and is really taking to it. He has really taken off in reading and will actually read for pleasure once in awhile.
Cade is also in wrestling and it seems to have really clicked with him. He really buckles down and focuses during his matches and channels his aggression appropriately and has won a couple of matches. He has bulked up a bit and is actually bigger than his older brother at this point. He is still a video game fanatic, and homework is still his nemesis. He will still come up to me and give me random hugs, almost as if to say'"You're still alright mom....you haven't screwed up too bad.." he's such a random kid, I never know what he will do next! He says the funniest and oddest things for a 9 year old. You can't stay mad at a kid like him...
Quentin is in preschool this year and absolutely loves it. It's almost like an episode of Cheers. Every morning when Quentin shows up on the classroom scene, 15 preschoolers chorus "Quentin!" He is immensely popular, apparently. He is a very cheerful and loving little guy for the most part, until you tell him he can't do something that he really wants to do, then he becomes this whiny little stinky monster and boy can he ever pull of the puppy dog eye pout!! He is also in wrestling with his brothers, but he hates practice. He likes to run around but doesn't like to do the drills or exercises, so practices are a chore. It's definitely an introduction to the sport at this point.
Haedyn is still a little thing and I am milking it for all it is worth! I can hardly believe she will be 2 next month! She has a mouth full of teeth and has started nipping family members on the shoulder or the legs..whatever she happens to be closest to when she is in the biting mood. Hopefully she doesn't expand her biting menu...She is obsessed with dogs and Blue's Clues is her favorite show at the moment. She is showing the potential for having quite the little temper when things aren't going as she thinks they should. She has mastered the ultimate crusty and will promptly tell you off in Haedynese if you are displeasing her in any way. She sleeps through the night and is still fairly easy to soothe. She is our only child that likes to tote around a stuffed animal or two or three...and the softer the better! She likes to rub them against her cheek when she is tired, it's pretty dang adorable! She is in nursery and is doing well and thus far goes in willingly.
I am back in school after thinking that I would have the semester off this time round...that's what I get for thinking! I had already been turned down for Pathophysiology before the end of last semester and then I get a call a week before Spring semester starts telling me that they have room and would I like to fill the spot? NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNnnnnnnnnYES....I don't when I will get such an opportunity again, so of course, I take it!! I am fortunate to have a buddy in the class, my friend and co worker, Laura. We are pretty much in the same stage of life and near to the same age. She is one of the most genuine, kind hearted, and hard working individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, so I count myself fortunate. The subject matter thus far is fascinating and horribly difficult all at once. I have scored an 88% on my first test, so I am cautiously optimistic that I might have a chance of doing okay in this class. I am on the Salt Lake Community College Nursing program wait list, and I just got my acceptance letter Saturday afternoon stating that I am slated to start in Fall of 2015....WOOT!! They say that my wait time is actually more like 2.5 years and that if I have a CNA licsense, then my wait time might be even less. Here's hoping.... I have also started dieting and exercising. I now consume a high protein high fiber low fat low carb diet and Rob got an Xbox Kinect, so that I can exercise without getting tripped up by controllers and wires and the like. I have been doing this for over a month and all I have noticed so far is that my clothes are only slightly looser, and I have an inordinate amount of rumble in the Bronx going on and so I feel like a bit of a balloon tire. I don't know about this. I keep hoping that my body will adjust at some point. Rob has been really supportive and encouraging...I think he's just plain pleased that I am making some sort of effort to lose my baby weight now that my babies are teens, tweens, and toddlers...it needs to come off, plus, I am tired of it- so it MUST go!
So anywho, that the most recent scoop from this neck of the woods...ta ta for now!