Unexpected

     Well, as usual life happens.  Not much we can do to change that except to roll with it.  I had been experiencing back pain for about a month.  Then my leg started to tingle and go numb.  I decided I needed to go to the Doctor and made an appointment to be seen.  He confirmed my suspicion that it was sciatic pain and  gave me pain meds, muscle relaxants and the symptoms to look for to go back and see him.  Nine days later I experienced one of those symptoms.  Foot drop is the inability to dorsiflex your foot.  I wasn't sure but I couldn't walk without my toes dragging on the ground.  I really had to lift my knee to walk without tripping and that made it really difficult to do my job.  I quickly insisted that I needed to see the Doctor,  (they wanted me to wait 5 days for an appointment) all the while knowing that this was really bad news.  He arranged for an urgent MRI and I ended up having surgery 4 days later to remove a herniated disc that was pressing on my nerve.  
     This all happened 16 days ago.   I am happy to say that my back is feeling much better, but my right foot is still not functioning.  At this point it is a wait and see to determine how much recovery of the nerves will be seen.  I am still restricted to no bending, twisting or lifting and I have a silly boot to wear on my foot that keeps it at a 45 degree angle to stop my toes dragging.
     Of course this means that I didn't get much done for a week.  More importantly I missed my Son's Marine boot camp graduation in California.  I am also unable to drive my new car that I picked up the day before the foot drop occurred.

Robert Williamson

Finally home!

I get my hug.

    Moving on, 

     I did have part of a blog post written, I encountered several problems getting the pictures from my iPhone to the computer though, the post is lost somewhere, so here I go again, hoping everything is working now and just short descriptions since this is long enough already!
     I started to work on my altered composition book.

Acrylic paint I had on hand

Best painting tools ever!

Looks good

Paper border that I am defiantly going to change.

When the family left for San Diego I had them put everything I might want at waist height so I wouldn't have to bend or stretch to reach it.  At that point I was only 4 days post surgery and still very sore and immobile.  My craft table was a disaster!

I found out about Smash books about a week before, I must have been living under a rock, or at least in Nursing School!  The idea was awesome for our trip to see my son, so I ordered one for both my daughter and myself and one extra of course.  Then I saw one at Walmart and got that in case the others didn't arrive.

 

They did!

My hospital page.

My new car page.

My Marine page.

   
     As you can see I have to add pictures still to these pages I have started.  I have also some others that I didn't take pictures of that I have planned out.  I like this because it is lots of fun and there are no rules.

While I was shopping I bought some other things, I don't know why I have been avoiding clear stamps.

Washi tape (how much fun is that. Like I said rock, me, living!) and other supplies gathered from the house.

My pen drawer.  What can I say?

My beautiful boot.  The long end is so I don't hit my toes on anything.

     There is one more thing I want to mention.  Well one more person actually.  I was surfing the web and I stumbled upon these you tube videos that made me laugh AND were so inspiring.  I love them!   Shannon Green has made my recovery so much easier you have to check her out.  I feel an affinity to her because it seems like we create the same way, flying by the seat of our pants!  I also love that she picks things up because she likes them then "I'll do something with it" just as I do.  The main difference is that she actually makes wonderful art and I just think about it or start to make things.

Laura Williamson RN

  Yes I made it through Nursing School!  There were many days that I didn't think I would, some days I cried, lots of laughter and I made some awesome friends that I will cherish.
      Now I have to get my life back together and it is going slow.  I am getting used to the working world.  I have a job in corrections, something that I never dreamed of doing. I am sleeping a lot because of working on second shift and getting used to the schedule as well as missing my family.  I am dabbling in my crafts again.  I am still learning about nursing.  That will never end.  

Today I started another project (yes I started another!).  

     I bought two cheap composition books at the store.  I wanted to work on another altered book.  The journals I have bought recently have turned into just that, journals.  First they are full of nursing school and now with my job.  I figure that I will keep them and write in them and well, work on an altered book separate.  It is a great plan...

     I took one of the books and decided on a thick water color paper cover that I can doodle or paint or whatever on.  I grabbed a paintbrush, my mod podge and went to the kitchen table.  My craft table is a shambles, it is on my to-do list!

     I laid attached two pieces of the paper to the front and back of the book with the glue, leaving the spine to cover with ribbon or something.  I will trim the edges later.  Then I thought "hey, I should glue some pages together so that they are thicker!"  Ummmm yeah.  I got a bit carried away  and started at the front of the book glued either 2 or 3 pages together and then from the back.  What you are seeing in this picture is the wax paper I placed between the pages so the ones I want to use don't stick together.  It might be a bit hard to peel that off but better than the whole book stuck together!

This is how it looks, you can see the glue made the lines in the book run a bit, but I don't care because I will be covering them up mostly anyway.

 

I was thinking I might take some of the pages out because once you start sticking things in a book like this it gets really bulky.  I got a lot of pages stuck together in the 45 minuets I was busy with the glue and brush, there is still about half the book left though.  

Right now it is sitting under my old nursing text books to dry.  I want to pull it out but I also know with that much glue, it will need a few days. 

 Things I learned.

• The glue smells, when I came home I could still smell it even though the book is in the office.
• The pages that you are gluing together are smoother (less wrinkled) if you use the next page to press it down.  
• Just gluing the two pieces of paper to the front and back of the cover gives me many options later.  I can trim them even or I can fold them over and glue them down. I was just doing the prep work today.  Get the glue on and let it dry!
• Did I mention that the glue smells, I was thinking of adding some cinnamon or something while I was doing it...maybe I will test that later on something else.
• Waiting to see how it turned out is really hard.
• Thinking about decorating the pages is making me impatient.  
• The whole point of this is that I actually DID IT.   Thinking about it and planning it are no good.  The book only cost $1 and the glue I have sitting on the shelf waiting to be used.  I already paid for it!  I know it might be another project that sits around, but at least I worked on something. 
• I came home from work and hubby has a button off of one of his work shirts.  I guess that goes on the to-do list as well! 

 

Time goes fast when you are reading a text book

Five months since my last post.  Well yeah, I have had time to post, and no, I really didn't feel like it.  I am surprised at how far I have come since August. Amoung other things I have learned how to give an injection, and how to put in an NG tube (don't worry if you don't know what that is, you really don't want to know).  Then there are all the things I don't know yet and that is the scary part. 
Spring semester begins on Monday.  Medical-Surgical nursing to start and I have signed up for Microbiology.  I have not set foot in the school yet and I am overwhelmed.  There is a lot of reading this semester and that would is not the worst part, but the remembering what you have read.  Again I have resolved to apply myself but I will put off some things that should be done NOW. 
So over the winter break I have really not done much of anything, some sewing, just mending, although I did make a tote bag to take to school as I asked for and got a laptop bag and it will not be big enough for all the books I need to take and my other junk.  You know that stuff that you can't live without or are afraid that you will need.  Typically I have;
my purse
a personal item purse,
pens,
note paper,
phone,
keys,
hand sanitizer (yum tangerine),
mp3 player and headphones (if the kids haven't stolen them),
perfume,
lipstick (that I never apply),
chapstick,
hand cream,
change,
post-its,
nail file,
and lots of little notes, shopping, schedule,email addresses.

Add on to that for school;
water bottle,
coffee cup,
pencil case,
calculator,
planner,
index cards,
file folders,
stethoscope,
pen light,
bandage scissors,
id badge,
white board marker,
sharpie,
medication cards,
clinical notebook,
tide pen (those horrible white uniforms!)

and a bunch of stuff I am sure I have forgotten that I find essential just in case.  This is all before I have my books, and most of them are 2 inches or more thick.

So you see why I need two bags, I have a rolling backpack but I have found that I can pare down what I need each day as we don't always use the text books in class. So I made the tote bag for folders and books and purse things, and the laptop case for when I need that.  Hopefully that will work out.  I will post a picture soon. 

So yeah, School is the thing foremost in my mind again and not much time for anything else.

Ahh last free weekend!

Well, summer has gone already! What? Yes, it is done. Of course the weather is not going to cool off yet(yes we had a heat index of 105 º this week ) . I start school on Monday and the kids on Wednesday. We have done our school shopping and packed our school bags. Here I sit wondering what I have forgotten, supplies and knowledge both!
It would be an understatement to say I am nervous and anxious. Going into a new situation always makes me uneasy. New people to meet, authority figures to determine. Mistakes to learn from without feeling stupid.
I keep telling myself that I can do it, I have to keep telling myself that. The worst thing is trying to visualize doing something that you have never seen.
I am kind of miffed that the kids will be in school at the same time as me and I will not get my alone time. I treasure that time I have to myself. From now on Fridays are going to be it and I have a feeling that those days are going to be full with homework and study.
So, today I am feeling like I should be resting and relaxing before the big day Monday, but of course I can't relax.
I might take some time for myself and my paints, better to get frustrated painting than to think of all the things that might happen next week. It is way too hot to work in the shed on beads. I have some sewing to take care of, alterations to clothes that I want to wear. Maybe that would be a good idea too.
So, this maybe the last blog post for a while.

Goodbye Craft Books.

Yesterday I wrote a long post and when I tried to add an image lost it all. So here I go again with a new post that probably has little to do with the first one. I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday let alone some random rambling thoughts.
School is out. I took my last tests in A & P and Sociology on Tuesday. So far only Soc has been graded and I got an A. I must say those 50 point nights (just for showing up) helped with that. We worked hard for those 50 points because just being there was a major chore. A subject that should be interesting and fun to learn becomes ultimately boring in the wrong hands. I am glad it is over. I am still waiting on the Anatomy grade. I will update when it comes in. (Yeah! I got a B).
Fall semester begins in 2 weeks. I have a test on critical thinking to take on the 12th and then classes start on the 16th. What is critical thinking anyway? I have the basic idea, but the concept is very arbitrary. I have a very full load and after picking up my books on Monday I am more than a little intimidated. (picture the screamer.) There were 10 books required for the 3 nursing classes I am taking. Of course some of them are going to be used throughout the curriculum; the drug guide for instance. I also signed up for A & P II which is totally insane of me but I want to get it done and since I have to drive to Bloomington for it, I want it done before the weather is too bad. I was lucky and got the same teacher I had over the summer, and I think it will be a little easier because it is a 16 week class instead of the crazy 8 week one I just finished. (let me just keep telling myself that).
On Friday I enlisted Robbie's help and moved all the craft books I had beneath my printer to a dark cupboard so I could stack my school books there. It was more than a little sad to see all my carefully collected books being put away, but honestly I don't remember the last time I looked at them for anything. I should probably purge them, but after the huge investment it is hard to let go.

My wrist problems I mentioned a couple of posts ago continue. The doctors office called and told me that I have a partial tear of my ulna triangular cartilage. YEAH ME! I looked it up on line and most of the sites were medical and really hard to read but I did gather that the treatment was a splint and or cast. When I see the orthopedic doc on Monday (the same one who gave Troy his two new hips), I will listen to what he has to say and then beg for the splint. I cannot do clinicals with a cast, washing my hands the correct way is going to be hard enough. I probably will have to get a note for using my wrist for lifting and such too I bet. Nothing is ever easy. I seem to have to most problems with it when I am taking notes though. I hope we have a lot of handouts and little note taking.
I haven't done much of anything since Tuesday. I have been getting things ready for School. I have some notebooks that I bought and stuck in all the abbreviations from the CNA class and copied liquid measures and conversions in the back. I need to add the blood pressure, pulse and respiration values and conversions from centigrade to Fahrenheit/pounds to Kilograms and that sort of thing. I guess it will be my little cheat sheet.
Troy has told the kids their rooms need to be cleaned by the time school starts and he told me the same thing. Damn, that is going to take a while. I have some mending for the kids to do. I suppose that means getting the sewing machine out. Robbie went into my shed where I bead yesterday and said the spiders have taken over. I guess I need to bug-bomb before I work out there again. I really don't want them on me when I am working. Actually I don't want them on me at any time.
What I guess I am saying with this whole post is, I get to breath for 2 weeks and then I get to hyperventilate for 16. In my handy-dandy scrub pockets I need a paper bag for those times when it gets totally overwhelming, and I also need to smell the roses now and again. I really hope they have a strong perfume that I can whiff while I am flying by.

The light at the end of the tunnel

(or only a week and a half till summer session is over)
     Yes!  Almost done with my summer classes.  It has not been as bad as everyone said, but it has been difficult.  I think I really failed my last anatomy test.  I have learned a valuable lesson though.  I cannot get too complacent.  I was getting a low A in the class because of my labs raising the test grades from a B to an A, BUT...this last test could take me down to a C!!  (insert bad word here)  So. I have been working on studying for the test this week and the final test next week so I can rectify the situation.  BTW, I am not the only one who thought the test was hard; my A student partners will no doubt fare much better than me because they did study.
     Sociology is another matter.  I didn't do too bad on the last test and I am getting a high B, if I can do the same on the next test I should get an A because she is giving us 50 extra points for showing up to lectures.  I am still pretty mad that she gives us power-points for the lectures and then uses different ones altogether.  Can you say confusing?
     I am eagerly watching the great school supplies appearing in the stores.  I am so excited to get new books and am trolling the bookstore website waiting for my class books to get in.  I bought some notebooks, if I don't need them Meghan can have them for school.  I also bought some new pens, I love pens.  I have all sorts!  My husband let me know that there is going to be a week in early august that I can get Illinois tax free school supplies.  You still have to pay local tax, but what a deal. 
   It was take out night last night and we had Chinese, much to Meghan's disgust.  I must say that the quality has gone down quite a bit the last few times we have had this particular restaurants fare.  It is the only Chinese delivery in town though.  I got my fortune cookie and it said 'Your life will be prosperous if you use your creativity' HUH.  Well that one was a keeper anyway.  I know I have not been using my creativity lately though.  The last torch session didn't go to well at all.  I haven't even gotten the beads in from the kiln.
  I need to look for my tan thread and finish off the green upcycled shirt I made.  I will do that today after I shower, call mum, finish my study guide and lab module, and no doubt read some of my book!

I Want to Make Beads

     Saturday, Holiday weekend, nothing going on.  We might watch the fireworks from the driveway again tomorrow. It is a pretty good view.  I don't like being out there because I am a bug magnet and uncomfortable for a week at least after being bitten.  Last year I  had a blanket covering everything  but my head and feet and I still got attacked.
     I really should study the muscles we have covered so far for Bio.  There are a lot of new words to learn and I am not going to like this test at all.
     So I have some really old bead pictures to post to get me in the mood for starting up the torch. 

This is a vessel I made and attached sterling wire and chain to hold the lid in place.  I really liked how the colors worked out.

These organic beads are some of my favorite to make.  Unfortunately right now I  am missing one of the key colors.

This is one of my first boro hearts.  (Thank you Mr. Smiley).  I really haven't gotten the whole striking thing down with the harder glass but I wear this necklace a lot.

These discs are really fun to make too.  I am going to do something with them soon.  When I have a free moment (Ha ha).

So that is just a few of the pictures I have, I have to take some more pictures of the newer beads and the jewelry I have made this year.  Maybe a few hours in the shed with the torch will be good therapy for me.