Monday, February 28, 2011

Sara Helps Me Make The Bed

I told Sara that with the bad economy she would have to start earning her keep around here.


So, she "helped" me make the bed.


Obviously, she's a pro at this.


But where did she go?


Get your cute kitty self out of there!


You snooze, you lose, princess.


Well, thanks for the entertainment, anyhow.

Reading Update


I've been working a lot more and a lot happier. I still have cynical moments about having to figure out the whole graduate school thing again but I'm slowly rebuilding. Besides working, here are the fun things I've been up to.

My sister's 25th birthday this morning. I had 2 pieces of this delish cake! We went out to lunch at The White Wolf Cafe in Winter Park. They have some of the best breakfast, salads, sandwiches and atmosphere around since they are in the antique district here in Orlando.
Ebony and Ivory cake from Publix
I've been reading a lot more! It's light reading but glad to be reading again.


I'm reading The Red Tent. I heard about this book through The Confessions of a Young Married Couple's Blog. Her readers were raving about it so I decided to order it from the library (they deliver it to my door and I'm lazy/busy). So far, it's made me very proud to be a woman. The friendships that women cultivate are some of the deepest, most fulfilling, friendships ever.



Also, from the library...could not figure out how to rotate the pic. Today, I took my first step at planning our engagement party and emailed the venue! So exciting.

I got this Barnie's Coffee Lover's Cookbook from a garage sale for 50 cents. I can't wait to bake something in it!

Also, my house is spotless! First time in a long time.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Moving On

I’ve had some time to allow the uncertainty of my future to sink in.

I could be moved from the alternate list and called to go to Fort Myers or Jacksonville as late as the end of May. B still desperately wants to stay in Orlando and brought up the idea of me moving by myself and just coming back over the weekends until the program is over. We will revisit that idea if we have to (though I’m not too fond of it at this point). I know, however, that if I were moved from the alternate list, I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant. Although it will be an incredibly difficult 2 years, it would lead to fulfillment and happiness in my career and stability for my family for 10, 20, or 30 plus years. I’ve already made many sacrifices including 2 years in post-bac, weeks of my life spent studying for the GRE, filling out applications, shadowing PAs, working in healthcare, stressing over whether I’ll  get in, so what’s 2 more years if it means I get to do what I want to do with my life professionally.

So, I did all the FAFSA things I need to do just in case that happens….which I have no idea if it will.

However, I also applied to the local community college so that I can take nutrition this summer for plan B. There are many more steps to plan B but those will occur over the next few months. At least I set the plan into motion.

Work is starting to pick up and that is a very good distraction for me. I hate not being in control of my future but this is something that I just have to let go. Whatever happens will be what is meant to happen and no matter what happens I won’t give up on my dreams. That is the one thing I can count on. Rather, the one person…myself.

So, I’ve been taking lots of deep breathes lately…into paper bags. I promise I will be back to my fun, happy self soon. Hopefully, that won’t require any Xanax.  

Friday, February 11, 2011

Now what?

I’m taking a break from my regularly scheduled blogging about food, decorating, or my cats to talk a little bit about life.

This is a hard entry for me to write. Even though I had a plan B for myself going into this graduate school process, right now I’m still feeling like, “Now what?” I found out from talking to other interviewees (who were awesome people, I might add) that every campus received about 1,000 applications this year.  That’s 1,000 applicants for 60 spots. That’s a 6% chance of getting in.  Now I did interview at 3 different campuses, so that raises my chances some, but still very competitive. I heard back from Fort Myers about a week after the interview and I’m an alternate for that school. That means if someone decides to go to another school or gets attacked by rabid elephants or something, they might consider me as one of the people who can take their spot. These alternate spots aren’t ranked, and they chose each person on a case-by-case basis. I hate to be overly cynical or negative but I’m not exactly impressed with those chances. However, there is a chance I could receive a call as late as May asking me to get my act together and get ready to attend Fort Myers in June.  I just found out yesterday that I was rejected from my top choice school here in Orlando. Finally, because I was sick and barely had a voice when I did my interview in Jacksonville, I’m not feeling very positive about my chances of getting into that school either.

This has both pros and cons. It leaves me with a lot to figure out.

The major pro is that B and I get to stay in Orlando and that is really important to us.

My plan B is that I would apply to accelerated nursing programs in Orlando and then decide if I would reapply to PA school after a year of being a nurse or pursue the NP route instead. However, the next application cycle isn’t until November. Sidenote: I still have to take nutrition as my last prereq and shadow a few nurses, so it’s good that I will have time to do that before I apply.

 Also, I’ve been working for an agency as a nursing assistant but the gigs I’ve been getting are only for a few hours a week. I’m still holding out that they will find me a regular job. If they don’t I will have to start looking for something else…and I really dread that process.  

So, I’m trying to figure out how exactly I want to do this. In the back of my mind, I’m looking forward to big life changes coming up like possibly buying a house soon now that we know we are staying in Orlando for the long haul. Also, I’m looking forward to planning our wedding. We’re tentatively looking at Fall 2012. I ‘m giddy about having time to read, garden, decorate, travel, and exercise.  Of course, money is an issue for some of those things and depend on me working more hours.

So, basically, I’m still waiting for this all of this to sink in. My plan B makes logical sense to me, but I want to make sure my heart is agreeing with my head. I’m so ready to move onto marriage and home ownership and all those things I feel like I should be experiencing at my age, but I need my career plans to line up first. At least, that’s what I think needs to happen. Right now, the themes of my life are that life happens while I’m making plans and that I make plans and God laughs. Anyone else feeling like this lately? 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Kitties are the best nurses

Every time I laid in bed surrounded by tissues, my sweet kitty, completely unaware of how nasty and germy I was would come and snuggle up to me and make me feel better. Her favorite place to be is the sink. I tried to repay her today with some quality sink time.


Isn't she precious?







Animals have the most giving souls. Sara is a good teacher.

Down with the sickness



If you follow me on twitter, you know that this whole week I've been as sick as a dog. B started feeling sick on our way home from Fort Myers on Monday and I went to bed with my nose completely stuffed and woke up sick. Yesterday, my whole body would burn up and then I would get cold and start shaking. Although I feel slightly better today, I'm still stuffed up, sore, and not yet eating normally. My diet has consisted of bread, popsicles, coke, water, and soup. This sickness is going around so please, I beg of you, take your vitamins and wash your hands.


My interviews have been going OK. In Orlando, I felt I was too nervous and held back a little too much. They told me I would hear something in 2-4 weeks. I'm still waiting and it's still my top choice school. In Fort Myers, I felt I was a too relaxed and bombastic. If I got in, I would have gotten a call that day. No call, so that means I'm either an alternate or rejected. B and I were not sure how we felt about living in Fort Myers. The trip there was full of orange grooves and small, old-fashioned Florida towns. Once we got into Fort Myers, we went downtown to find a place to eat. A place that the hotel recommended was closed. The only other place that was open was extremely expensive so we ended up at Joe's Crab Shack with what seemed like the rest of the population of Fort Myers. I think we may have gone to the wrong part of town.

Tomorrow, sick or not, we are driving to Jacksonville for my last interview. We lived there for 2 years while I attended post-bac so we're very familiar with the city. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a balance between between holding back and opening up. It will be somewhat of a relief to be done with interviews, but I know I won't be completely relieved into I'm accepted into a program.

It's been a week that I'll always remember. Now off to scavenge for soup or other comfort food. Mac and cheese is starting to sound good. Maybe I'm getting better!