One down......27 to go....

Yup.  Hard to believe that one month has already passed and that we're into February.  Of course, since February is a short month it's going to be over in a flash too.  Funny how that works.  At first I thought school would never start and now it's just starting to pick up steam and I bet this semester will be over in the blink of an eye.

So, it hasn't been bad so far.  A bit of a change of pace.  Just getting back into the swing of full-time school has been challenging.  I'm trying to treat this like my job for the next 27 months and get into a routine - get up at the same time, if I'm not in class then I'm in the books.  Surprisingly it actually is working out nicely.  I'm less stressed than I thought I would be and enjoying the learning (mostly!).  Most importantly I feel like I still have time to spend doing other things which I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do.

Creating has fallen by the wayside.  I'd be lucky to get in a day of torching every few weeks I think.  I did spend this past Sunday doing some sewing.  Just needed to get away from the books for a while and do something non-educational :)  The upside to that is I'll be swimming in scrub caps by the time clinicals start.

No pics for today.  Maybe I'll try and see if I can get back with a more detailed post about what my days are like and the courses I'm taking.  For now, I'm back to the books.  Yay ;P

Hope you're having a great day wherever you are!!

First day of school.....

I wanted to post after my first day but was super swamped and never got around to it so this is just a bit late. 

It's official. I am an unemployed, full-time student.  And on my first day of school I felt like the kid in the picture above.  It's finally set in that yes, they did indeed mean to offer me a spot in the program and no, they did not make a mistake :)

Last week was orientation so we spent a good deal of time just dealing with logistics and administrative stuff.  I think that might have been the worst week.....you're ready to get going and yet it's dragging by because you're not really in "school mode".  Well, if I wanted school mode I certainly got it this week. We jumped right from the frying pan into the fire!!!  Never-ending reading. Concepts that have my brain screaming for mercy. More paper, more assignments, more reading....more, more, MORE!!!

But I LOVE IT!!! And I'm so totally excited about it.  Today we finally got to the good stuff.  The anesthesia gas machine (AGM). Yeah!!!  It makes sense!! It's awesome!! I can't wait to drive it!!!  Instead of dreading it (like I thought I might) I'm totally stoked about this....about all the learning and the challenge.  There's something to be said about being an adult learner.  I think you take it all so much more seriously and it's more meaningful somehow.

Anyhow, I'm rambling but it's because I was up way too early this morning and have already put in a full day. And my brain is fried because I can't comprehend pKa, pKb and all the other p's.  ;P

I hope that I get the chance to take you all on this crazy journey with me but I can't promise frequent updates. I'll do what I can.  In the meantime......keep calm and carry on!

On the cusp of a new year.....

I'm sure I'm not the first to say.....My goodness! This year has just FLOWN by!  At the start of every year I find myself wondering if it's ever going to get going.  Then, before you know it, the summer is over and all of a sudden it's Christmas and a new year is just around the corner.  Then I find myself wondering....where on earth did the year go and what the heck did I do all year???

The highlights of this year include:

Kev not killing himself falling off his bike.  Don't know if you recall that one but he knocked himself unconscious and was transported to Big Duke. Didn't know his name. Talking out of his head. Major concussion.  For a while there I thought maybe I wouldn't ever get my Kev back.  Thankfully he's back to his same silly self with no seeming lingering effects of the accident.

I freaking got into Duke for grad school!!!  YEAH!!!  Please remind me that this was a highlight of my year when I get on here in the coming months and moan and gripe about how school is sucking the life out of me :D

I found some additional creative outlets - incorporating metals and whatnot into my repertoire.  Keep checking back.  I've got some fun stuff planned :)

Thank you everyone for being a part of my life this past year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Post Holiday Slump....

I finally feel like things are slowing down. Even though my last day of work was on the 13th I didn't really feel like I was winding down because there was so much craziness going on with the house and then the ramping up to the holidays (even though we didn't do anything!).  But with the start of this week I really am in full-blown veg mode :D

The house isn't completely done yet. Unfortunately they had an issue with one window that's held up the job. I'm hoping that window comes in today in which case it might get installed sometime later this week - maybe after the snow melts - and then they can finish the siding and painting on that one section. Some of the gutters still need to be finished. Same thing with later on this week. Can't imagine anyone wants to get on a 20ft ladder while there's ice and snow on the ground.

In the meantime, DH and I are fortunate enough that we get a full 2 weeks to spend together. This time is super precious because I have no idea how much time we're going to get to spend together like this once the insanity of school starts.  We don't have any major things planned other than to veg together and do whatever we want whenever we want.  It's pretty sweet :)

I've managed to sit down and torch a couple of times. Played with some silver. Got some new ideas cooking. More on that later.  For now here are some house pics for fun.....

Hope you're staying warm and safe this winter season!

Scattered....

Haven't updated in a while.  Kind of been all over the place. Wrapping up work. Trying to get all of my life-support courses renewed so I won't have to do it until close to the end of school.

They're working on the house (siding and windows).  Those of you in-the-know know that this has been a rather extended project and, while we're getting closer to being done, it isn't moving along a quickly as I had hoped.  I think the plan is to have all of the house wrapped up by the end of the week next week. 

My last day of work is Monday.  Haven't quite figured out how I feel about that.  Wednesday I'm officially switching status from worker to student.  Wish me luck as I have to travel to Buffalo to cross the border to get paperwork done. Given the ridiculous amount of snow that's been coming down up there I'm wondering whether I'll actually make it there and back on Wednesday as planned.

In the meantime I haven't really been at the torch but did manage to work on my first ever spinner ring as well as a couple of mini cab rings to go with the stacking bands.

That's all I've got.  Well, actually there's something else in the works but I'll update you on that once it's a done deal :)

Hope you're staying warm wherever you are.  It's kind of freezing here in NC which is very, VERY, unusual!

Ring-a-ling-a-ding-dong....

Yeah....I'm on a crazy ring making spree!!!!

 Love them!  Wear them all the time! Wear lots of them! Truly......the more the merrier :D

Metal? or Glass? Who care so long as i get to use a torch!!!!

This past Saturday I took a quick refresher metals class.  I had taken one a few years back through the local park and recs offerings but didn't really keep up with it and, consequently, really needed to get back into the swing of things.  So, off to my local bead store where I played for a couple of hours and made these:

I just love these simple bands! Round wire, twisted wire copper and silver findings.  It was a blast.  And in the end I walked out with a finger adorned in ring-a-lischousness.  I think I'm addicted.  Not that this means that I'm giving up glass.....oh no.  Just means now I may have a new addiction.  I swear my studio is just not big enough. I think this means it's time to move just so I can have room to really get elbows deep in all these hobbies :D

Although....come January I may just be packing them all up for 28 months while I concentrate on getting through grad school.  Now can you see why I'm cramming as much as possible into the next 2 months?  Next Saturday I'm taking another class where I'll be making another type of ring.  Oh yeah...stay tuned for more silver goodness!