New kitty/winter break/new semester starting/new job!

Hi again guys :) It's been FOREVER but here I am for a quick update!!!

I finished my first class/first semester of nursing school with a 4.0!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! I worked really hard for that grade and am very proud of it! Now that I'm done with Fundamentals, which was a 15 week class, every class from now on in the program is only 7 1/2 weeks long. Sounds like a blast!!! Each class will only have 2 exams and a final, not leaving much breathing room to make mistakes. I can do this!!!

I start Surgical nursing next week Wednesday, January 18th. I will have lecture on Wednesdays from 3pm-815pm then clinicals (at a hospital this time!!!) on Thursdays & Fridays from 3pm-1040pm. Surgical nursing ends on March 2nd and I will have about two weeks off until Maternal/Child Nursing starts on March 17th! For Maternal/Child I know I will have lecture on Wednesdays from 9am-245pm but I won't find out what days I will have clinical on for awhile still, unfortunately. My monstrous Med/Surg book was about $140 and is HUUUUUUUUGE!!! AHHH!! Very intimidating, but I'm trying to remember that we will cover this entire book throughout the duration of four separate classes, not just one class ;) I got all other three books I need for this semester used, so that saved me a ton of money.

I have been so, so entirely lazy this entire break. I had so many big plans in my mind that I was going to do and accomplish during these four weeks but haven't done many of them..... The only major plan I have "kept my word on" is catching up on sleep! I did catch up on quite a bit of cleaning today, which was one of my original goals, so I guess that's good at least :)

In other news, we got a new kitten last week and she is the most adorable little girl! She is white with calico markings on her tail and head with a little bit of color on her body and paws. She is fitting right in with our other two cats and dog already. I am really excited!

Here is a photo of her in her brother's favorite sleeping spot:

Lastly, as you may know I left my previous job of five years to get a new job (including a small pay cut) in order to reduce my stress levels, plus I needed something more flexible with my nursing school schedule. Well, that job was going well until I found out they were closing the store a few weeks ago! ARG! Their last day open was December 30th, a day I worked 19 hours straight on to help them move and tear down the store. It was insane. That is the longest amount of time I have ever worked straight. I did have one 30 minute break, but that was it. Anyway, so the store closed down and I can thankfully say that I have already found another job. I start tomorrow and am very happy! I'll be doing reception/front desk type of work at an animal day care/boarding/grooming/training facility in the area. It's a bit higher pay than my last job and it's similar to the job I was at for five years. Plus, the clientele consists of DOGS and I am a huge dog/animal lover! I start there tomorrow and can't wait! Starting a new job is always stressful, but I think I'm going to fit right in. I had a "working interview" there last week where I "worked" for three hours to get a feel for what the job will be like and to meet some of my new coworkers. It went really well! Plus, my old manager from a job I had back in 2004 works there as well. She is one of my favorite people in the world and am very excited to be working with her again!

I think that is it for now. I will try to update after classes start next week and after I start my new job and training. :)

Thanks for reading!