Yeah....Ken passed his NCLEX exam! He is now officially an R.N. and can start to do part-time work at the hospital. After vacation, he will call and set up orientation and all that entails. But we have a cushion now and can breathe after almost 6 years of his hard work!
In the meanwhile, he has been a darling and has been working on painting my kitchen cabinets...more than halfway done. Next weekend, we will start to repaint the LR/DR...same colors (red accent wall, white for the rest), just to freshen it up. Our new living room sofa and loveseat SHOULD be here by October, but who knows? I'm hoping before Thanksgiving.
Well, Maggie should graduate in June of 2011, then Abby in 2012. Then the Dulls should be done for a while....unless Kate goes back to school.
Enjoy the rest of the summer, folks.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Ken
Ok, today Ken was in Albany taking his NCLEX...Nursing Boards, for us dummies! He finished in just over an hour and won't know for 48 hours or so how he did. But Kate, our very own professional RN, who took them 4 years ago, said it's a good sign that he finished early. Supposedly the test takes you from easy to hard questions, and if you flub a hard one, it moves back down for several easy/medium ones...so, the longer you go, the more you have messed up?!#
Anyway, this is the end of a VERY long haul for all of us. If he passes, Ken can worry a bit less about IBM's corporate B#!@S#@% and get on with his life. He won't leave IBM...will hang in there as long as he can...but he doesn't have to worry soooo much if they do pinkslip him!
Our "long term" goal is to get Abby into college, and hopefully through it, before we have to move/change jobs/go nuts.
Cross your fingers Ken passed!
Anyway, this is the end of a VERY long haul for all of us. If he passes, Ken can worry a bit less about IBM's corporate B#!@S#@% and get on with his life. He won't leave IBM...will hang in there as long as he can...but he doesn't have to worry soooo much if they do pinkslip him!
Our "long term" goal is to get Abby into college, and hopefully through it, before we have to move/change jobs/go nuts.
Cross your fingers Ken passed!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Now it's August....yikes!
OK, I really have to make a schedule to post to this thing. Another month almost has passed...but besides record temperatures here in NY, nothing much is new. Kate and Tracy had their Open House party last weekend, and Maggie flew in as a surprise...you should have seen Kate's face when she opened the door to her twin standing there!!
Abby loves volunteering in the hospital the two afternoons, and the nurses have quickly learned she is efficient and reliable and she has already done the Nursing Schedule on the computer...plus watering the patients, doing filing, running errands...she has learned the hospital layout, has yet to go to the morgue, loves the grilled cheese in the cafeteria, and all this will be for naught when the new hospital opens in September of 2011. But I think it is helping her confidence and to make up her mind of what she might want to be...all good things!
Hershey Park in two weeks, then a week to shop for school and then September 2nd is the BIG DAY! I am looking forward to more of a schedule, less driving to Middletown for me, and for cooler weather. But I don't love getting up at 5:30 am and when I get back to teaching religion, I am sure I will wonder where the summer went!
Enjoy!
Abby loves volunteering in the hospital the two afternoons, and the nurses have quickly learned she is efficient and reliable and she has already done the Nursing Schedule on the computer...plus watering the patients, doing filing, running errands...she has learned the hospital layout, has yet to go to the morgue, loves the grilled cheese in the cafeteria, and all this will be for naught when the new hospital opens in September of 2011. But I think it is helping her confidence and to make up her mind of what she might want to be...all good things!
Hershey Park in two weeks, then a week to shop for school and then September 2nd is the BIG DAY! I am looking forward to more of a schedule, less driving to Middletown for me, and for cooler weather. But I don't love getting up at 5:30 am and when I get back to teaching religion, I am sure I will wonder where the summer went!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July already??
Wow...last time I wrote, 'twas the beginning of June....now, we are almost half-way through July! The heat has been brutal and we are down inches and inches in the rain department, so I soon anticipate a call from the Village's automatic phone system informing us to conserve water. Last year, we had rain and slugs and mushrooms. What a difference a year makes!
Abby is in the last week of music camp and her third week of volunteering at the hospital. So I am spending huge amounts of time driving...but at least, it's air-conditioned. I also managed to make all four nights at the end of June/beginning of July of our church's Catechist Formation classes. I have already done Level I twice, the last time in 2007-2008, and recently completed the Level II classes (all online this time!), but it is nice to "learn" and hear other people's ideas and thoughts. I realize how much I miss school; and how the chance to go to college again myself has passed. First, it was "get the twins through college". Then "Ken has prerequis to do", then "Nursing School for Ken". Now, in 2 years time, we will be packing up Abby for college. So there goes it for me....but at least I can still take classes now and then and keep the grey matter from turning to mush!
Abby is in the last week of music camp and her third week of volunteering at the hospital. So I am spending huge amounts of time driving...but at least, it's air-conditioned. I also managed to make all four nights at the end of June/beginning of July of our church's Catechist Formation classes. I have already done Level I twice, the last time in 2007-2008, and recently completed the Level II classes (all online this time!), but it is nice to "learn" and hear other people's ideas and thoughts. I realize how much I miss school; and how the chance to go to college again myself has passed. First, it was "get the twins through college". Then "Ken has prerequis to do", then "Nursing School for Ken". Now, in 2 years time, we will be packing up Abby for college. So there goes it for me....but at least I can still take classes now and then and keep the grey matter from turning to mush!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Memorial Day and now it's June....
After a nice, though tiring, weekend at Tracy's and Kate's, we drove back to the house on Memorial Day afternoon, opened up the windows to air the place out, and vegged! Now it's June...wow...can you believe it? The groundhog has eaten up my gerbenas AGAIN! By 1 pm, the dog and I are done with the heat and just lay around panting. My roses are blooming and the weeds are growing, so there is that to do. And Ken has the time to BBQ, saving me from the stove. What a guy!
Abby has finals next week and then 3 regents over the course of the following two weeks. We have yet to hear from the Summer FUNdamentals camp, so I have no idea of our schedule during July. Have to make arrangements for Hershey in August. Ken's Review course for his Nursing Boards are in two weeks, and then he has to sit for the NCLEX exam. Hopefully, he will do as well as Kate did (she passed on her first try). He then has a part-time position all set up in our local hospital to do Med/Surg for a few months...his ultimate goal is to go to the ER or ICU.
I am currently re-reading the Dragons of Pern books...love them! I also realize how often I re-read books I love. I have two Alison Weir books on my table by the bed and by the sofa, but those are a bit harder to get through...the Pern books are like a diversion, like watching a silly "I Love Lucy" show that I have seen a million times before. But books are like that...some you skip through, some you savor, others you slog through, and then there are those that leave you totally dissatisfied...like the latest "Law and Order" shows, where you go "Huh?" and wonder if this is why they were cancelled!
Happy June to all....especially those taking finals!!
Abby has finals next week and then 3 regents over the course of the following two weeks. We have yet to hear from the Summer FUNdamentals camp, so I have no idea of our schedule during July. Have to make arrangements for Hershey in August. Ken's Review course for his Nursing Boards are in two weeks, and then he has to sit for the NCLEX exam. Hopefully, he will do as well as Kate did (she passed on her first try). He then has a part-time position all set up in our local hospital to do Med/Surg for a few months...his ultimate goal is to go to the ER or ICU.
I am currently re-reading the Dragons of Pern books...love them! I also realize how often I re-read books I love. I have two Alison Weir books on my table by the bed and by the sofa, but those are a bit harder to get through...the Pern books are like a diversion, like watching a silly "I Love Lucy" show that I have seen a million times before. But books are like that...some you skip through, some you savor, others you slog through, and then there are those that leave you totally dissatisfied...like the latest "Law and Order" shows, where you go "Huh?" and wonder if this is why they were cancelled!
Happy June to all....especially those taking finals!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Summertime
As today's temp reached a balmy 89 degrees, and they are predicting over 92 tomorrow, I can see that, despite all my hopes, summer is a'comin'! For those who don't know me well, this is my LEAST favorite time of the year. I do not do well with humidity and heat...so global warming is gonna really suck!
That said, summertime does mean longer days, so one can still sit outside past 6 pm and appreciate all the hard work done in the garden these past few weeks. I miss playing cards outside with Kate and Abby...Abby seems to gravitate towards the swing these days (yep, 15 1/2 yrs. old and all of a sudden, the swing is a big thing!) or her basement bedroom and the WII or some such electronic device. So I sit with my old dog and watch the fireflies and see the bats start to fly by and then spray my hostas with Liquid Fence so the deer and groundhog don't eat them, and then I go inside and realize that it is way past my bedtime! Summer also means no really frantic days of school/ccd/meetings. Hopefully, Abby will have a counselor job at the summer camp in Newburgh, and after 6 weeks, we can just relax. Oh, and Hershey Park! That is our one get-away. Even though I do not ride the rollercoasters, it is a break that we all look forward to with great anticipation!!
While the airconditioner seems nice now, by August, I will have a love/hate relationship with it. My sinuses and eyes will have become dried out by it, and the noise will have driven me crazy...but I cannot stand the days without it. All my laundry and ironing must now be done way before 10 am, and the hours between 1 pm and 5 pm are spent in the darkened livingroom. In 8 weeks or less, I will be longing for autumn. But for now, summer is almost here.
That said, summertime does mean longer days, so one can still sit outside past 6 pm and appreciate all the hard work done in the garden these past few weeks. I miss playing cards outside with Kate and Abby...Abby seems to gravitate towards the swing these days (yep, 15 1/2 yrs. old and all of a sudden, the swing is a big thing!) or her basement bedroom and the WII or some such electronic device. So I sit with my old dog and watch the fireflies and see the bats start to fly by and then spray my hostas with Liquid Fence so the deer and groundhog don't eat them, and then I go inside and realize that it is way past my bedtime! Summer also means no really frantic days of school/ccd/meetings. Hopefully, Abby will have a counselor job at the summer camp in Newburgh, and after 6 weeks, we can just relax. Oh, and Hershey Park! That is our one get-away. Even though I do not ride the rollercoasters, it is a break that we all look forward to with great anticipation!!
While the airconditioner seems nice now, by August, I will have a love/hate relationship with it. My sinuses and eyes will have become dried out by it, and the noise will have driven me crazy...but I cannot stand the days without it. All my laundry and ironing must now be done way before 10 am, and the hours between 1 pm and 5 pm are spent in the darkened livingroom. In 8 weeks or less, I will be longing for autumn. But for now, summer is almost here.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Weekend plans
This weekend is Mother's Day and as my mom and my mother-in-law are both, hopefully, in Heaven, I will be spending the time at home with Abby and Ken. Well, Ken is working tonight and tomorrow night, from 6 pm to 6 am, so that means Church with Abby by myself and two nights alone. I thought once he passed Nursing School, things would calm down, but what do I know? Next week, he is gone Tues, Wed and Fri from 7a to 7p, following a RN's shift all week to complete his clinicals. So Sturbridge next weekend will be a delight...a "late" Mother's Day gift!
I recently looked through old letters and cards that the girls have given me. I don't keep many, because I lost some in the flood of '96, and I don't want to wind up on A&E TV as a Hoarder! But it is nice to remember the times when they were actually more excited about Mother's Day than I was...and the breakfasts in bed, with them jumping up and "helping" me open cards, presents and eating my meal! And then going to church and being so proud that I was a mom, after all that time trying to become one!
So, Happy Mother's Day to all those who are moms/grandmas/aunts/godmothers/etc. I hope the people you have touched in your life remember to give you a hug or a card or a call!
I recently looked through old letters and cards that the girls have given me. I don't keep many, because I lost some in the flood of '96, and I don't want to wind up on A&E TV as a Hoarder! But it is nice to remember the times when they were actually more excited about Mother's Day than I was...and the breakfasts in bed, with them jumping up and "helping" me open cards, presents and eating my meal! And then going to church and being so proud that I was a mom, after all that time trying to become one!
So, Happy Mother's Day to all those who are moms/grandmas/aunts/godmothers/etc. I hope the people you have touched in your life remember to give you a hug or a card or a call!
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