It seems as if I'm only ever writing update articles lately.  That gots to change.

It's Sunday night, again.  I have ahead of me a week I've been dreading since all plans came together and I could see it as it really was: busy.  Too busy for my liking.

Tomorrow morning my and a classmate are going 30 miles south of here to take an entrance exam at a college there.  If we a) pass this exam, get a copy of our HS and college transcripts attached to c) our completed application plus 2 letters of recommendation and d) make a favorable impression with the director of the Nursing program at aforementioned college then we'll be offered places for the class beginning next July.  I'm hoping that I get in.  If, however, I don't get into July's class, then I'll reapply for the January '09 class.  If I don't get in to that, class, I'll reapply for the next class.  And the next.  And the next, and so on, until I get in (or until I'm accepted to another class somewhere else).  I'm hoping that we both get in; the girl I'm going with tomorrow is good people and totally deserves a spot.  She's my age and we often joke that neither of us is enough of a spring chicken to be waiting around for offers to come in so we have to go out and persue them.  Besides, if she makes it we could car-pool, and that'd be a big help.  Not working for 11 months now that the kids are older isn't going to be an easy thing. 

Tomorrow afternoon J and I (the girl I'm driving with tomorrow) both have to do clinicals with the afternoon class.  Again, I'm glad that I'll have her to work with; neither of us care for the attitude the majority of the people attending the evening class have.  I'll be home from there by 10pm, at which point I'll have to go right to bed.  I have to have a procedure done on my back Tuesday morning, for which they have to sedate me and perform the procedure in the OR.  I have to be in the St Louis University Hospital by 6am, which means a 0430am start time for both Dave and I.  Joy.  I will have the rest of the day to rest, though, so I can make up for the lack of sleep I got the night before.

Wednesday morning I have clinicals again, which means yet another early (5am) start.  Wednesday afternoon I have to see patients for my hospice work.  I haven't seen them in more than a week - I was supposed to see them last Tuesday morning but was ill and didn't want to run the risk of being contagious.  I dunn what the fuss is about, I mean they're dying anyway, so what do they care about a little virus? 

(That was a joke.  You can laugh now)

Thursday morning I have to take care of the Mr.  Same thing on Friday.  The kids are off school those two days for some parent-teacher conferences, so I have appointments both afternoons too. I personally find it curious how those conferences always seem to coincide with a federal holiday the following Monday.  Do they REALLY happen like that, or is it timed for a reason?   Enquiring minds want to know.....anyway, back to the Mr.  He got seen by his Doc last week and started on a new medication.  His little pharmacy didn't carry it, so they had to order it in and he was all a-tizzy Thursday about getting it - so much so that he called me back after I had already left for the day and had me turn around, pick up his meds and deliver them to him.  There are a LOT of things he can't eat and drink on this new med, so I made sure to go over them very thoroughly with him before I left again.  Friday morning I go in and ask him how the new medicine was working.  "I dunno, I didn't take it" he said.  When I asked him about it he avoided it and then when I pressed him he told me he wasn't taking it and that he didn't want to talk about it.  I told him I loved him (nods at LW) and that I was only asking out of concern for him, but he wouldn't talk about it.  So, when I had some shopping to do in town, I stopped in and talked to the pharmacist.  The Mr has known that man for many, many years and respects his opinion, so I thought that maybe the Mr would actually listen if the pharmacist called and told him he needed to take his medication (if the Mr doesn't take this med, then......well, it'd be bad.  I'll leave it at that).  The pharmacist said that he would, and as I haven't talked to the Mr since then I don't know if their little chat came to pass or not - and if it did, if it helped.  I'll the Mr's son tomorrow and find out.

I know that my week doesn't sound too busy to some people, but you've got to understand that I'm a small-town middle aged housefrau who doesn't do much of anything or go anywhere.  For me, this upcoming week is a whirling mass of appointments and tests and procedures and clinicals and work and home and laundry and cleaning and blood pressures and medications and walking the dog and knitting people's Christmas presents and the Mr and cooking and making sure everyone has what they need for the day before they leave that house and so on and so forth.

I big, swirling mass.   And it all starts................

.............soon.   Too soon.