Waiting

Patience may be a virtue, but it isn't necessarily one of my virtues.

I hate waiting for anything. Autumn takes way too long to come back into season every year, Christmas should be more than once a year, graduations seem to take forever and a day to happen, and no matter how close I am to actually getting a real job, it seems as far away as it did when I was a little girl.

Here are things I am currently waiting on to happen:

• Comprehensive Exam Grades - I took this exam almost a month ago and have yet to hear whether or not I passed. I'm not entirely sure what the hold up is (I have heard rumors that some professors have been sick and others were late getting in their graded portions) but I am definitely ready to know once and for all whether I have to retake them or not. (Hopefully not.)
• Hospital Orientation - I have heard through the grape vine that I have to attend an orientation during the month of December for my hospital placement. I haven't heard anything from this particular hospital ever - just that I am supposed to report there in a few weeks. Is it very hard to send a confirmation email so that I can get a little more sleep at night? Here's a weird thought for you: really, all I want to know is what color scrubs I get to wear.
• Hospital vs. School - On the subject of hospitals, I would like to know once and for all which setting is the best fit for me as an employee. I am definitely leaning towards the school system right now (mostly because I love being part of a school community and really zeroing in and helping my students long-term). But part of me is tired of waiting to see whether I will sink or swim in the hospital.
• Location - I am waiting to figure out where I will live this time next year. I love Augusta and I have met some amazing people, but I hate being this far away from my best friends and family. Most of my family is over two hours away and my best friends are either back home or in Valdosta (or at least south of Macon). I am considering moving closer to home next summer. We'll see.
• Mattie's next vet appointment - Mattie has had some health scares lately and I have been concerned about her since we moved here back in August. Her November appointment at the vet will really be a big deal in letting me know what kind of shape she is in.

That's it in a nutshell--at least for now.

Seriously?

Seriously.

I kind of love my life :)

This weekend, I went home to celebrate my friend Abby's wedding and to watch the Georgia Tech homecoming game with my family.

Abby was a beautiful bride and I was so happy for her on her special day! She had asked me to be a part of the wedding a few months ago but I didn't really know specifically I would be doing to "help" her. But my name was in the program (how cool is that!) and I got to serve at her reception. I have to say (without any bias at all), that I am the queen of serving punch, haha. She and Doug are spending the next week in Jamaica (jealous!) scuba diving and whatnot. Can't wait to see the photos from the honeymoon - I know they will be gorgeous.

And now the subject of college football.... What an incredible weekend! First off, Texas (barely) beats out Oklahoma in the annual Cotton Bowl! I didn't get to watch the game because I was at the wedding, but I got my dad and brother to send me text messages to keep me updated. It's too bad about Sam Bradford getting hurt again, but I'm pretty sure that Texas wouldn't have pulled out a win without that injury. Praying for a speedy recovery for Sam.

Six o' clock comes around and my whole family is gathered around the television, Quizno's in hand, in great anticipation of the matchup between the #4 ranked Hokies and our #19 Yellow Jackets. WHAT a game. We yelled, we screamed, we groaned. But we pulled off a win! And if you have a spare moment, you should check out today's AP rankings. The Yellow Jackets are now #11.

Seriously?

Seriously.

Overdue

I have been a little absent (okay, a lot absent) from the blog scene as my life has been a little bit crazy over the last few weeks!

An update on my last post... We are still in the process of screening all those kindergartners. Turns out finding enough hours in the school day to get all 98 of them screened is easier said than done. But I am still chugging away with my hours (I think I have around 80 or 90 now!) and loving all my kiddos at the elementary school. Although I have come away with some crazy new stories and scars (not kidding), I have also come away with a ton of new friends at the school and will hate to tell them goodbye at the end of the semester. (So I'm trying real hard not to think about it.)

Anyway, I guess you might could deduct the fact that I was absent due to studying for my comprehensive exams - which I purposefully have not even mentioned (on blog or on facebook) until this point. Everybody gets so worked up about these exams and they don't stop to realize that they have already put in the time and effort into studying for comps. Get it? We already studied for the classes and the tests once and the questions aren't going to change just because the big test is comprehensive. Does that mean that we don't have to brush up on some things? No. But every girl in my class is more than capable of doing well on the big test, and I believe that we all did well. There just isn't a reason to stress out about it. We all have to have confidence in ourselves! Don't doubt that we haven't studied enough because we have all passed these courses the first time around. No stress needed. Stress causes you to do stupid things - like forgetting something that you know.

That is the attitude that I walked into comps with this morning and I left feeling... confident. The exam was not nearly as bad I had anticipated! We'll see how it goes.

In other news, I start full time next week, meaning that all 49 kids on the caseload are my responsibility for 4 weeks. I am excited about the challenge and ready to see how I respond to the pressure. I am anticipating a lot of laughs! Like today....

One minute, the 4 year old I was working with was sitting up in his chair and the next, I see his feet fly through the air and he jumps up really quickly and exclaims,

"Howy Cwap! I din see dat won comin!"

Seriously?

Seriously. :)