About 2 months ago I was finishing up my clinical hours for my nurse practitioner program and I had to take a practice test for my comprehensive exam to graduate from school. I studied and felt ready and so I took the test....I barely passed. It was by such a slim percent that I passed that it scared the crap out of me to think about the real comprehensive exam and my board certification test.
I panicked and decided RIGHT THEN that I needed to take a review course for my boards. I figured it would help on both exams. The comps exam is supposed to test my knowledge of all (3 years) of my masters education and my masters education is what is supposedly preparing my to be a NP. So, it made sense, taking a review course was just the ticket.
So I searched and searched and there were no review courses in San Diego for the next 6 months or so. I contemplated heading over to Phoenix for a course, which would have added the cost of driving, hotel rental, and food, but it seemed like a good option considering that it was the closest review to SD. Then, I had a brilliant idea...maybe there is a review course in St. Louis sometime soon? Yep, turns out it was timed perfectly for my studying and test schedule and also was a course that a fellow classmate had recommended. Perfect! I signed up for the course and booked a flight. Of course with some extra time to hang with the family.
Even luckier for me was the fact that my brother and sister-in-law had recently sold their condo and were in the process of looking for a new house so they were staying with mom and dad too. When I travel to St. Louis I usually get to see my nieces and nephew in little spurts, but this time it was non-stop. I loved it. My sister also drove home and spent some time with me which was great. She used to blog too and I think she should re-up
this space and entertain us with her tales of teaching.
To introduce the cast of nieces and nephew.....Benjamin (Ben, Benny, Buddy, Benji, etc.) is 3, and the girls, Elisabeth (Biffy) and Alaythea (Laythie bear), are 18 months old. Ben and Alaythea were open and excited to have a new person around to play with, read with, and cuddle with.
But that Elisabeth. She wanted nothing to do with me. At all. For the entire week. At first my mere presence in the same room with her would cause an outbreak of tears. By the second day, it moved to standing in the same room was ok, as long as I didn't make eye contact. By day 3-4 a little eye contact was tolerated but careful...not for too long! Finally by day 5-6, I could make eye contact and even play silly games and make faces across the room. Even got a few smiles out of her. I thought I was doing great and I should definitely be able to play next to her or even hold her--NOPE! She was not having any of that! It was actually quite comical. I will admit that on the last day, literally as I was saying goodbye to them, she tolerated me holding her and there was a photo snapped of it for proof. Here are some pics of these cuties:
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| Alaythea |
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| Laythie bear bed head |
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| Big brother Ben |
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| The girls in their seats |
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| A small smile from the elusive Biff |
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| Benny helping papa fix the umbrella |
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| Smiley Lathie |
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| Benjamin and I having s'mores by the fire |
And I did do some other things while I was in the Lou. My parents took my sister and I to a Cardinals game. It was a good game, and we won! Great seats too! Thanks Mom and Dad!
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| Can you see the arch cit into the grass? |
See you on the flip side St. Louie.
