Wednesday started off with some intense contemplation of my family's eating habits. Classes were starting again for me, and wanting to ease my daughter's reorientation to day care, I offered to stop at McDonald's for breakfast. As I was pulling up to the drive-thru, my three year old child announced, "I would like a #6 please." Aside from the fact that she didn't know what she was ordering, I realize this is not a good thing. As a nursing student, I have sat through multiple classes on proper nutrition and should be fearful enough of the bad things that can result from poor nutrition to keep my family away from these bad choices; while I attribute my own poor eating/caffeine addicted nutrition habits to my way-to-hectic-for-one-person-to-handle schedule, I am obviously not paying enough attention to what my child eats. Too often dinner (or breakfast) becomes a free-for-all where I come screeching through the front door at 6 pm only to realize I have no idea what's for dinner. I always go to the freezer first to look for some sort of bagged pasta that can be cooked quickly, followed by a trip to--you guessed it--my family's personal chef, Micky D. For the record, my "husband" is helpful with the actual cooking/entertaining the three year old dinner process as long as I have had the time and forsight to figure out what's for dinner ahead of time. He is absolutely no help with spur of the moment cooking. Also, by 6:30 everyone in my house is starving so dinner must appear quickly or bad things will happen. I am definitely the grumpiest person in the house when my tank is running low, prone to yelling and occasional unprovoked bouts of crying, which always alarms my "husband" as I am not a cryer. Note to self: plan meals ahead of time more consistently...starting tomorrow and/or the next time I actually make it to the grocery store.
Following the McDonald's debacle, registration progressed smoothly. I found myself absurdly happy to be returning to school--something I am usually good at no matter what else is going badly in my life. I have a 70 mile commute each way to get to my nursing school of choice, and coming back from vacations it is always a little annoying to make the drive for a few days because it really does feel like 140 miles. After a few days, I don't really notice it except for the days when the roads are icy and I have to commit even more time to commuting. It's not exactly an ideal arrangement, but I have gotten used to it. As anyone who knows me is aware, I have been working my butt off for a nursing degree for a really. long. time. Most days I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to finally fulfill my dream. I also didn't have to spend as much on books as I thought I would. The smell of new textbooks always makes me happy. I have pharmacology and pathophysiology this winter, so I'm sure I will hate those books within a matter of days.
Some extenuating circumstances left me tired and hassled on Thursday morning. Crawled up to class for the first day on Thursday. Sat in the very back so that I could step out quickly for phone calls. The day wasn't great because I was exhausted, still harboring the remnants of a bad cold from last week, and I didn't pass my quarterly medical calculations exam. Lest you think me an idiot for failing--I am a straight A student, and I studied for the test. I had an A in medical calculations when I left for Christmas break. Med calc is an optional class, but at the beginning of each quarter I have to take an exam and score 90% or better in order to pass. Below 90% and I have to sign up for the medical calculations class, and I only get 2 more tries to pass before I get KICKED OUT OF THE NURSING PROGRAM! Needless to say this is causing me some severe anxiety. The test wasn't difficult and I got an 80%, but the problem is the teacher is a bit of a nut job (maybe I should've chosen a different description for her, in consideration of the above topics of discussion) and she has these weird criteria for the way that answers must be rounded. Only about 4 people out of 44 nursing students passed the exam. I haven't even gotten to talk to her because she conveniently called in sick on Friday. Another problem this creates is that I was really hoping to be able to skip the medical calculations class because it is scheduled on Wednesday mornings from 9 to 9:50, and I was going to have Wednesdays off this quarter. Can you believe it? Apparently a day off in the middle of the week to study, or pat my "husband" on the head, or cook dinner (not McDonald's), or spend time with my baby girl or SLEEP is way too much to hope for in this world. No thanks, I'd rather waste four hours out of my day, pay for an extra day of day care, and run up my gasoline tab driving to school for a 50 minute, 1 credit class instead. Rest assured, I am not giving up the dream just yet. I need that day off.
After the news broke of my dismal examination failure on Thursday, I got in my car to head home. The "husband" calls and announces he just got in a fender bender and our vehicle will be needing a new front bumper. Oh yes, and the old man that he rolled into at a stoplight was yelling that his back hurt.
And that folks, was Thursday.
Friday was much smoother compared to all this with the only blip being that my lab partner and I stayed on campus for an extra two hours in the hopes of tracking down that nut job of a teacher regarding our exams only to find out she wouldn't be showing up. I was so thankful to walk in my front door and pick up my daughter and kiss my guy and my dog. I danced around the living room with the kiddo singing "It's Friday!" Now everyone is settled in for the night (except me, I get to study--lucky girl, right?) and I am so grateful that this life is mine. I fed my family McDonald's for dinner again.
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