I PASSED!

I just got my CNA certification! YAY! I'm a spazzzzz right now.

Exam day is over

I am so glad it's all done. Now if only I knew how I did. I have to wait until I get something in the mail from them and that could take 3 to 4 weeks. UGH! That's too long. I'm going to have an ulcer from worring by then. I'm not really worried about the written part of the exam. It's the skills portion that is so nerve wracking!

For now though, I am trying to relax. I did my best and my class is over. Now I'm going to take the day off and try to think about something else. I am going to read a book that has nothing to do with the stuff I've been learning! YAY!

tired I am so

I was up till 2am doing my homework. Now I have a test this morning. Tonight I have another huge chunk of homework and then another test tomorrow. I feel like I'm getting sick again and I can hardly keep my eyes open. Someone say a prayer for me to make it through this alive and with an A. I'm a good little perfectionist.

Stuff

Well it's been a long while since I posted. I've been keeping myself pretty busy. I was volunteering at the hospital for a while and really enjoyed my time there. I volunteering some in 2 South (nursing unit), Outpatient surgery, and in the Denali Center. I learned a lot by watching the staff and listening to what they were saying. When someone had the time I would ask a few questions. I learned really fast to keep a pad of paper handy and write things down as I had questions. That way I could ask questions later or look for definitions or examples at home later. Wednesday was my last day volunteering for a while because my CNA class started on Thursday but I can't wait to get started again.

I was very happy to find out that I got an A on my Medical Terminology Class. That class wasn't required but I really got a lot out of it. I couldn't imagine working in any medical facility without knowing the lingo! It's already come in really handy in my nurses aid class because you need to know a certain amount of terminology and abbreviations for that class as well.

I started feeling like I was catching a cold Wednesday and by that night I was pretty sick. So for the first two days of class and was looking pretty bad and it look all I had to keep my eyes open. I'm taking the month long class instead of the semester class so I can't even miss one day or I will not have enough hours of training to get my certification from the state. Alaska requires 164 hours of training which is among the highest out of all the 50 states. Already on Monday there is a test and orientation at the FMH Denali Center. I am excited and can't wait to be working as a CNA!

Well I'm off to rest and study in bed. I need to shake this cold as fast as I can.

"Dad, do you believe in God?"

Dad: Mmmmmmmmm possibly.

Riley: Well, I know I do! Mom does too!

Dad: Hmmmmm, Why is that?

Riley: Because when I lost my retainer the first time Mom prayed that we would find it. She didn't want you to get mad. Then when Rodney came over to ask if I could play she said, "no, Riley can't play 'cause he lost his retainer." Then Rodney said, "oh, I'll go get it". I left it at his house.

Dad: oh really?

Riley: Yeah, and then when I lost it again before dinner, mom was REALLY REALLY mad at me and re-grounded me to my room. Then I prayed for God to help me find it again, even though I didn't deserve it and when I woke up and picked up a pair of my jeans off the floor I felt something in the pocket!!!!!! My retainer was in there!! God did help me after all!

Mom: *Big, proud smiles*
(I think this little man is helping a lot more than he knows to break down a very big wall)

Curiosity CAN kill a Donna

I have a new addiction, of the worst sort. Genealogy. It was a complete accident too. I have actually listened to friends of mine go on and on about their own addiction in tracking down all the branches of their family tree and thought they were crazy. I did not inhale! Then, one night when I was supposed to be studying but ended up googling and playing around on eBay instead, I stumbled upon a genealogy website that caught my eye. Something on the front page caught my attention and I started reading. Then, of course, my fingers started googling away. I ended up at ancestry.com and started entering what I knew. I thought I could just play around with it and not actually subscribe. NOT! I put in some information my mother-in-law told me about her family and the next thing I knew there where these little twitching leaves all over the place which meant they had some cool morsel of information about my family but were going to dangle it in front of my nose like a carrot.....until I subscribed. It also had some sort of record of my husbands grandfather being in the army. So I told my husband about it all while he was sleeping and he handed over his visa without the slightest qualm! Really. He said, "here, charge whatever you need to" and rolled back over. I started gathering up all the information they had available and before I knew it I was in Ireland, then England....... and Scotland!! My family wasn't so easy and I've been chiseling away at the minds of old people trying to get details ever since. Now I sit here awake in the middle of the night because INQUIRING DONNA'S NEED TO KNOW! NOW!

There is no way I can sleep when I have a website that allows me to search endless records. Every now and then I get a break and find something that works. Then I call my parents and jog their memories. Then I can sit back and listen to the stories roasting over an open chestnut. Sometimes the stories don't relate to anything but bad backs and sore feet but sometimes I get something I can use. I've tracked down graveyards and found out about relatives I never even knew I had and about children that died to soon. I also found out that tomb stones have "type-o's" too. Now that I've shook the dust loose from the nooks and crannies of my dad's mind he has started to write his autobiography. I am sure it will be primarily about hunting bears and other critters. I wonder what he will called it? "how to get yourself killed in 3 easy steps"?

Now though, I have to pry myself away from all of that new knowledge and get some sleep...... and tomorrow I have to try to study in between 4 doctor and orthodontist appointments. Crazy me scheduled before I checked my calendar. I'm hoping though that they will figure out what's up with my stomach.

Sick of being sick

I have been sick or allergic or both for all of the month of July and frankly......I'm sick of it. I missed two weddings that I really wanted to go to too. Two good friends of mine are now happily married and I MISSED IT! I had planned on doing so much more this summer! I planned on having the best garden ever this summer since I would be home and not working. I planned to sew a bunch of new clothes with my sewing machine. I planned on getting out my sketch books and my paints and taking a lot of pictures. I planned on reading a bunch of books. I planned to knit something wonderful. I planned to volunteer at the hospital and the literacy council and I've just been sick or had my eyes swollen up to where I couldn't even see to drive let along read or paint. This month I barely made it to my classes because my eyes were watering so bad. I have to drive into the sun to get there and at 5:30 the sun has been playing chicken with me. I had to pull over (be the chicken) 3 times a couple weeks ago to put in eye drops and clear up my eyes and ended up being 30 minutes late for that class. The instructor let me take the test I missed after class and I got a 101 on it. I am finally starting to get this stuff!! I'm hoping to be about to pull off a B at least. Anyway, I missed out on so much this summer. I only read about 5 books which mostly weren't even on my reading list. I have only volunteered on a limited basis at the literacy council and I've been limited to riding my stationary bike in my garage instead of getting outside unless it's raining. People think I'm nuts but it really is so beautiful when it rains and the color of everything is intensified. Mainly though the air is CLEANER! When it's raining I don't have an allergic reaction to anything and the clean air is wonderful. I am not the only one that realizes this either because I always pass other people out walking and jogging and biking in the rain. It's funny though because I can see people that pass in the cars look at me like I'm crazy and sometimes actually read those words on their lips. They don't know what they are missing.

Well, I'm scheduling a doctors appointment to see what's up with my stomach. I'm worried they will tell me to stop drinking coffee. Is there a 12 step progam for coffee-aholics?