Catching up.

So, now I live in Hot Springs, AR, home of the....duh...hot springs. We've been here just over a month and I'm finally starting to settle in. It has taken me this long, but I finally got my drivers license transferred over today. They seem to want you to stand on your head and whistle Dixie and then give them your firstborn child. Since I don't have a first born child, I had to jump through millions of hoops. Oh well...it is finally done.
I found the quilt shop in town. That was one of my first goals and I was totally psyched that there even is a quilt shop here. I went there the other day and found out that it is pathetic not got the greatest selection. The fabrics there are cheap (and I don't mean inexpensive). All I needed was some red for the binding of a black and white quilt. But I left disappointed. I am not a batik chick. I am a Moda, amy butler chick type chick. All she had at the cranky lady poorly stocked, poor customer service shop was batiks and grandma fabric.
Maybe I can start my own shop...(wishful thinking)

But so that you can see what I finally found to finish this quilt....TADA! Black and white and quilted with red thread just to be different.

The backing is a really cool black and white print.

I finally found my binding fabric at Hancock's which also is lacking in quilting fabric choices. They do have a couple things, but their red fabric was really thin with a poor thread count. Told you....fabric snob.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good morning.

I haven't posted in like forever--I know. This whole dial up internet thing has gotten WAY beyond old. Eventually, at some point in my life, I'll have something faster. But right now, I must be content with the slow monotony of creeping internet.
On a happier subject though--Merry Christmas!! I'm awake at almost 1:00am on Christmas morning because my days and nights are totally mixed up. Everyone else is asleep but apparently, my internal clock thinks I need to sit up and wait for Santa. The joys of working nights....
What a year this has been. Dave was diagnosed with cancer, went through chemo and two nights ago, we received a text message from his oncologist to say that his PET scan last week came back completely clean. Merry Christmas to us.
We're hanging with family for the next couple of days. With Dave's family right now and then off to see mine in North Alabama. I hope you're hanging with your family right now too.
I really hope you're all asleep right now, which is more than I can say for me.

Ladonna Roshto....wait for it....

RN!!

I got my results yesterday afternoon! I have a license! I'm finally an RN. All the hard work of nursing school has finally paid off in the form of two little letters--R.N.
I actually got to sign my name yesterday at the hospital "Ladonna Roshto, RN". It was a good feeling.

Work is going good. I start nights on Monday, so that'll be new. I'd rather stay on days a while, but don't really have much choice. I guess I'll sink or swim. My preceptor has been great (for the short time I've been with her). She's also offered help while I'm on nights too. Not that she's going to be there, but that if I collect my questions, she'll go through things with me at shift change.

I go back to work Friday for my last day of day-shift. I'll finally be able to do and sign everything!!!

It is such a load off to not have to worry about NCLEX anymore!

Stay tuned...

75 doesn't feel as positive as I once thought!

Sorry for not posting in a while. I have started my new job and am on the floor now. I have also been studying for NCLEX every night that I haven't had church. But yesterday, Lindsey, Kim and Leigh Ann (another girl from our nursing class) picked me up from work and we drove to Mobile. We ate a good supper and then went to find the testing center where we'd take the hardest test of our lives. We stayed in Mobile last night and got to sleep in (which was wonderful!). We went to bed fairly early (probably about 11:30 or so). I'd worked 12 hr shifts for the past two days so I was asleep before my head hit the pillow good. I set my alarm for 11am and just about sleep solid til then. Our exam was scheduled for 2pm, so we ate a good CrackerBarrel breakfast/lunch before we went to the testing center. We had been talking and laughing since we left Hattiesburg yesterday, but once we left lunch, our mood became much more somber. No more laughing or joking. Got the testing center and a couple of the girls were going to stay outside for a few more minutes (we got there about ten minutes early). I went on in. I was able to register immediately, and got started on my test by 1:30. I started the tutorial which tells you about the different question types. Then had to start the test.

Wow! What a test it was. There were a few that I absolutely knew the answer to--like 3 or 4. There were some that I could narrow down to 2 or even one that I could answer because I knew that 3 of the answers were wrong. But overall--that was the hardest test I've ever taken. I got to number 75 and answered it. I hesitated before hitting the "next" button because it would either shut off or I'd have to keep going. I got my guts up and hit "next". My test shut off. So now I know that I either passed it really well or failed it really badly! I used to say, "If I get 75 questions, I'll know I passed. I've studied and done the things I knew to do. I surely can't fail it that bad." But now that I've taken it, I'm not so sure about 75 questions. All four of us got 75 questions before the test shut off. Now we wait. I'll be checking the Board of Nursing website OFTEN!!! When I know--You'll know.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement! I feel a huge sense of relief! At least now I don't have to come home to study anymore. No more care plans for school. No more NCLEX practice tests. Now its the real world. I'll write another post about the job this weekend. I'm going to go chill for a while now.

Stay tuned...

And so begins the waiting...

Several things to tell you today. I'll start with the bland stuff.
1. Work was okay. Still in orientation, so lots of sitting. Lots of computer work. Tomorrow at least we get to demonstrate our IV skills. We're learning the computer charting system. So far, I really like it. I hope I can still say that after a couple of months. I should be on the floor by next Tuesday. Not the whole day, but it is a 12 hour day.
2. We got our ATT today!! What is an ATT you ask? Authorization to Test. That means I became eligible to schedule my state boards. We've been waiting for this email to come through--and it finally did.
3. I am scheduled to take NCLEX--next friday, June 5 at 8am. I called Emily from the hospital and had her get into my email to get all the stuff. So she's actually the one who registered me. I wanted a good date and time and didn't want to wait to get home and do it. She was all to eager to help me. So I told her what I wanted and she did it. So now I have this huge knot in my stomach!!! I'm about to take the biggest test of my life! Now I have to get off the computer and start studying!!

Stay tuned...

Quite the boring day.

Today was general orientation for my new job. I feel like I signed my name a million times. Do you want insurance plan A, B or C? Do you want short term disability? Long term disability? Additional life insurance? Which dental plan? Do you want vision? Who are your beneficiaries and what percentage do they each get? I didn't think it would ever end. I heard more on corporate compliance than I ever cared to (I know its an important topic, but wow, that was dry). Up side--I got paid just to sit there and listen. I can handle that!
So nothing exciting to report. I got my badge today, so I kind of feel official now. Tomorrow those of us in patient care areas begin training. Not on the floor, but in the education department. I'm excited about it!
Hopefully I'll have much more wonderful things to report tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

It feels like the first day of school

Tomorrow I start my job at the hospital. When I say "start", that means orientation. We're there from 7:45 to 4:30 and its general hospital orientation. After tomorrow, I don't know what happens. But I know I'm excited. It really does feel like the first day of school tomorrow. Kinda cool. All that nursing school is finally ending at this point--job! I'll let you know how it goes!

Stay tuned...

Love these kids!

One of my goals for my trip to Emily's was to get new pics of her kids. Now that I have my handy-dandy camera, I figured I should put it to good use. Emily agreed, so we picked out clothes for the kids and then let them in on the "plan". They were super tolerant of me and seemed to have a good time. Jacob wasn't too eager to have his picture taken barefooted, but he got over that pretty fast.

I wanted some candid pictures, but one of the kids, not naming any names (Anna), loves to pose for the camera. You'd better have a speedy shutter finger to catch her in a candid shot. Here are some of my favorites.

Do you know how hard it is to get 4 kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time?

I love this picture of Thomas. I must have gotten 50-60 shots of him and in most of them, he's making a funny face. This one is my favorite though.

Anna would let me take pictures all day. Bless her heart. She's such a ham! I love her for letting me practice my photography skills on her though.

This is kind of a weird shot, but for some reason, I like it.

And last, but not least. I think Jacob honed in on his Spidey-skills!

Hangin' with the kids

I'm at my sisters for the week hanging out with her and the kids before I start work next week. I flew in last night and we were up bright and early for a doctors appt and a trip to the zoo. The doctor's appt was for Thomas--his yearly neurosurgeon visit. He got a good report--hooray! Then off to the zoo. I love hanging with the kids for lots of reasons, but one of my newest reasons is because they are wonderful practice for me and the camera. Just want to share a few with you. My posts have been devoid of pictures lately, so maybe this'll make it up to you.

Ask and ye shall receive.

FREEEEEDOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
I graduated from nursing school today! Did you ever think this day would arrive? I sure didn't. But here it is. The graduation ceremony was very nice. I now have a pin that says I graduated from nursing school. I can do nothing with that achievement until I pass boards though.
So, we were at graduation and I was waiting to line up when I saw the HR Nursing recruiter (from the hospital I interviewed with Tuesday) come in. I smiled and said hello and that I was glad to see her. She told me she needed to call me because she had good news for me!!!!! Translation: I got the job at Forrest General!!!! I have a job!!!!!!! I'm going to be a real nurse in a real hospital!!!!!!
So here's the facts:
- It is on a med surg floor but we get the pre and post heart cath patients (if you don't know what that is, you'd probably be bored with the details).
- It is a night job so 7p to 7a, here I come! (I wanted nights so I'm thrilled)
- I don't know when I start, she's supposed to call tomorrow and we'll set everything up.

More info to come, but I wanted to let you know that I've matriculated and have a job!

Stay tuned...