moment of parental pride

Alhambra High School graduation. Here is Pat receiving his diploma, and it is actually in that folder because I went in to the office and paid his AP test fees today. We are all bursting with pride, he has done very well at AHS. He has been the kind of student that gets involved with classmates and faculty, he worked in leadership roles in Mock Trial as the pretrial attorney and in band as the Drum Major. This year the band got their brand new uniforms and Pat looked stunning in the white drum major garb and really got into the role of leading the band. He got to direct the band at the graduation ceremony too.













The weather was perfect for the evening, although some of the speeches were long and not too inspiring, two of the student speeches were outstanding, Mike's and Kathleen's.
Here is Pat with his friends (L to R) Nicole, Mike, Taylor, Pat, Michael, and Kathleen.


They all went back to the school from 10-4AM for the Grad Night party. They lock the kids in at the school and feed and entertain them. I hope he is having fun and can be sort of alert when we have our party tomorrow afternoon.

Pat will spend the summer as our own family taxi driver, ferrying Joe and Rose to their activities while I am in school. He doesn't seem to mind being asked to do it though. Any chance to get behind the wheel.

At the end of August he will be off to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg VA to study Chemistry and Philosophy. Life doesn't get much better, all those years raising him culminates in a moment of parental pride.

Adjustment

We are a couple of weeks into the program now and I am already feeling overwhelmed on many levels.

First there is the adjustment for my family. They have been used to having me available to them pretty much 24/7 so this is a drastic change to have me in class 10 hours a day and studying the rest of my waking hours. I can't rescue them when they forget to take something to school, I can't drive on field trips, I can't drop in the classroom to hear their presentations, I can't even pick them up at the end of the school day; they have to walk home or go to the after-school program. It has been the hardest for Rose, she is 11 and still wants me to be present at everything. Pat and Joe at 18 and 16, are liking the forced independence. And now that Brian is working 50 miles away, he is less available too. I am struggling with this part too, I feel guilty about being pulled away, I miss the hangout time with them. Then there are the logistics to adjust to, arranging rides (thankfully Pat has his license now) scheduling appointments for the few hours I have open, getting dinner on the table, the laundry done and the dog hair vacuumed. Even though the kids have always helped with chores, they are having to be more responsible. I know it is good for them but it is still hard. We set up a dinner schedule for the summer, each of us will make dinner one night a week during the week. We did this before and it worked pretty well. Rose is going to do all the laundry for the summer, (for pay) and Pat is going to do the schlepping of people to and from their activities. Joe is working off his new keyboard purchase by painting the remainder of the exterior of the house. Pat is also getting ready to go off to college in August so he has lots of organizing and sorting of a lifetime of possessions to do and packing.

Then there is the adjustment to the amount of work that is involved in a 1 year nursing program. We are in class many hours both lectures and labs, in a few weeks we will start clinical rotations, we have reading, homework assignments, papers, presentations, and practice to do. I took a few evenings off last week to attend Pat's senior concert (he played a piano solo and I was so proud) and his senior awards ceremony (he received several) and Rose's girl scout bridging ceremony and our mother daughter book club. It was worth going to all those events (I can't give everything up) but I feel like I am already behind in the work. We have already had a test and we have another one tomorrow, they come fast and furious, thankfully I got an A on the first one!

Then the adjustment into our new role as nurses. I feel like we are being initiated into a club or society. There is new vocabulary of course, but there are also new ways of interacting with people. There is a whole socialization aspect to becoming a nurse that I hadn't really thought about before. Also we are all feeling a little overwhelmed with the responsibility for our patients lives, especially now when we are so new to the work and are feeling pretty incompetent. Of course we are being supervised, but the reality of the seriousness and complexity of the job is beginning to dawn on us.

Well it is back to studying for tomorrow's exam.

12 months to RN

Well, the party is over. The break was great, filled with projects, and visits with friends, and reading for fun, and weaving and knitting and even getaway. Now it is back to school!

Today was the first day of class at Samuel Merritt's Nursing program. Forty eight of us from 22- 50ish eagerly showed up to begin this journey. We have come from many different backgrounds to get here, lots of career changes, from teaching, computers, accounting, various businesses, lab work and even a jewelry designer! We began with learning to take vital signs in our Health Assessment class. We were all pretty awkward with the stethoscopes and sphingnometers (to measure blood pressure), hoping that we get smoother at it practicing on each other before we face a real patient. Tomorrow's class is Introduction to nursing and health care. We will learn about the history and changing roles of nurses in health care. Already we are sobered by the responsibility we will have for our patient's care and in awe of the trust they will place in us. I hope we will gain the skills and confidence in the next year to go out into the workplace and really care for people.

Inbetween

Doesn't looking at the ocean just make you happy? It does me. I love the sounds and smell of it too. I spent last weekend in Pescadero with my honey just relaxing. I have a couple months off of school before the nursing program starts; I am packing in as much relaxation and visiting with friends as I can. I have spent the last year or so taking the prerequisites for nursing school and at the end of May I start a 1 year program to earn my BSN. I'll be at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland and various clinical sites. I can't wait to get started and I can't wait to get working. With Pat starting college in the fall and my program we will be up to our eyeballs in debt for a while.

I have been knitting more during this break and I went to Stitches West in February and took classes this time. More about that later. Now I am off to my great nieces first birthday party followed by Pat's piano recital!

Happy New Year

Just want to wish y'all the happiest of New Years. Thanks for reading my blog and special thanks to all who commented. Here's to another year spent with those we love doing the things that bring us joy.