Fall 2011: school has begun.

Recap: I'm midway through the first week of Fall Semester, 2011. My nursing school application is in, but I won't know if I'm in until maybe March. I'm working almost full time as a receptionist at a retirement home, volunteering 6 hours per week at the hospital, and taking 4.5 units at the local community college.

New news: I decided to quit my tutoring job. I looked at how everything was shaping up, and I went to the first meeting of my phlebotomy class, and I put everything on the calendar. I wasn't going to have any days at all left when I wasn't working in some fashion. Maybe a Saturday here and there when I trade hospital shifts with another person, but no time for studying really, no time for social life, no time to keep up my garden, or lounge with kitties. So I'm giving myself one day back. Wednesday. I will still have class that night but the rest of the day I'm going to take a mid-week pause, to catch up on errands, studying, hang out around the house, and take a deep breath.

I have a carpool buddy to get to the other campus where my phlebotomy course is held, which is a huge relief. And she's very nice, outgoing, and talkative. She's had some crazy experiences...geez. At one point she was working for a dollar an hour in a nursing home about 20 minutes away, as an illegal Filipino immigrant. I have always thought of that kind of situation as something that happens in big cities, near the Mexico border maybe, but not here, not in my county. She's doing a lot better now and has a real (albeit low paying) job but now she's got a little girl and a semi-deadbeat husband to support. She's one tough cookie. Been working since she was 12.

Phlebotomy is good. The teacher is laying down some very hard and fast rules with serious consequences right off the bat, but I can also tell that she's friendly and has a sense of humor about stuff. We watched a video of all the things that can go wrong if you mess up in a lab drawing peoples' blood (and the consequences), and have been taking care of beginning-of-semester administrative stuff, and starting to go through book chapters. Today we went through that exercise where you rub fake germs all over your hands, then wash your hands like you normally would, and check under the UV lamp to see what you missed. I need to pay a little more attention to my wrists, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well I did, because I really did follow directions and wash my hands like I normally would after going to the bathroom or something (some students were doing an intense scrub down!).

I haven't been working through my TEAS studies like I planned. Things have felt so hectic, all day, every day. The test could be as early as next month so I need to get going again.

For now though, it's time for sleep.