DC

I finally got to visit Washington DC.  I've actually been there before- from one end of the metropolitan area to  the other via the subway, but not getting above ground in between.  A friend from CA is near the area for some work training, so I took a trip down.. via bus of course, so that I could get some studying done during the weekend.  Worked out great.  It was a "raw" and cold day, but we made the best of it.  I have a lot more traveling to do once I start working again.  Already making my list...

At the Smithsonian "Air and Space" museum:

Test and Polar Plunge

Friday I took the RN pre-admissions exam I've been prepping for.  I was more pressed for time during the test than I expected to be.  It was web-based (that's a first!), and so you get your results the same day.  And I did great- 99th percentile. !!!!  (And 100% on the Math..)  Even though it's not a particularly difficult test, this is better than I thought I would do, especially with how pressed I felt for time.  So, I was very, very, VERY pleased.  This test counts for half of the admission criteria, so it's a big deal.  

This Super Bowl Sunday, I celebrated by jumping into the Atlantic ocean in the middle of winter.  Yep.  They do it every year in my uncle's town.  I always thought it was a horrible and stupid idea.  But this year I decided it was a good idea.  (I suppose this may be what happens when a skydiver has not jumped from a plane in over a month...)  It was 37 degrees, very sunny, and very little wind.  So, it was a nice day to do it. I doubt I would/could have done it if it were a shitty day.  It was damn cold, but no where near as bad as I expected!!

Before, and scared:

Running back in after my dip:

Did it!

Lake Minnewaska

This weekend was a nice mix of schoolwork and social time.  Today leaned less on the schoolwork side though... I went hiking with my best friend from high school.  I've been wanting to do a winter hike, since it's been so mild here.

Hearts and germs

Today we dissected hearts!  (Cow and sheep).  Then, prepared slides of/checked out E. coli and Staph.  I love learning this stuff.  :) 

Spring Semester

I'm now a week into being a full-time student.  I was actually really happy about school starting again.  I'm very interested in all my of my classes, except Organic Chemistry, which is one of those things you just gotta do.  My first weekly homework assignment for O Chem took up 12 pages in my notebook.  Writing "pre-labs" also seems like it's going to be a major time sink.  Hopefully I'll get better at them-- It's been a decade since I've done Chemistry labs.  Seems like this class will be "fun".. (ugh).  I'm just so psyched to be in it at my local college, where I'm taking everything else!  I feel very lucky.  The professor said that this is the first time that he's seen O Chem 1 offered in the Spring semester (in addition to O Chem 2), and he's been there about 20 years.  WOW.  That kinda hit me...    I'm also taking: Anatomy & Physiology II (which I'm very excited about), Microbiology for Health Professionals (germs), and Developmental Psychology (across the lifespan).  I was very happy to see some friends I made last semester (who are also doing career changes to nursing) in my A&P lecture and lab. 

I had a great time skiing this past weekend at a mountain not very far from me.  I went with some great friends.  It was colder skiing there than any of the trips I've done in the Rockies.  We had a heck of a time getting there.. as it was snowing pretty bad and the roads weren't cleared yet.  We got about 4 inches.  It's back to being warm again, so it's all melting. 

Winter Interim

I'm about halfway through a 3-week stay with my family in Long Beach, NY, taking Intro to Statistics, which is so far proving to be the easiest college course I've probably ever taken.  My professor is a quite stereo-typical Long Island woman.  I don't expect people to act a certain way based on certain things, but I do find it pretty funny when they really do prove the stereotype.  It's adorable; I enjoy her.  I'm also still prepping for the pre-nursing standardized test next month.  My strength for Math is obvious, but I'm being reminded of my weakness in vocabulary.  Science is mostly a matter of brushing up on some basics from long ago.

This past week has actually felt like winter, but now it's back to warming up again.  

I often think of my "mental hiatus": not being a "contributing member of society"/ loafing off my family, and not knowing if I'll get a job, or where the job would be after this is done.  I keep focusing on one step at a time, knowing I'm doing this for the "right" reason.  The increased freedom in scheduling my time is the part I do like.

Masterpiece!

This isn't just any gingerbread house! 

Just Some Books

Ready for the Spring semester.  That is, after my winter Stats class.  Everything should be interesting, except Organic Chemistry.  But I could see how it could be useful.

Holidelic Weekend

My finals are done. Straight As (in all of my two classes). I have a break until just after Christmas, when I take my 3-week long winter session class while living at my uncles'. I have a long weekend after that, and then its straight into the spring semester. I'm using my time now to prep for the standardized pre-nursing exam in February. It won't be hard at all, but I do need to refresh on stuff, as it's been a while.

Had another great weekend. On Saturday, I volunteered for a theater group for children who stutter. We filmed a music video at a high school in Harlem. My grandmother lived in Harlem, and it's changed a lot since I was a kid. The filming went well and my help was appreciated. After, we went downtown and saw a funny/satire holiday show called "Holidelic".

Sunday was "cookie day" at a friend's family's place, which has an amazing view. It was really cool; the family is very welcoming and fun. I'm very lucky to have some great friends, on two coasts. Some very creative cookies were made. Most had a holiday theme, but not all did.

Chrysler building cookie:

Here is the new "Freedom Tower" being built where the twin towers stood.  It sparkles on the East River from this view.

Pennsylvania

Everybody loves kittens, right?? 

I visited my mother, brother, and step-father this weekend.  They moved to central Pennsylvania about 5 years ago.  But I've never visited, since they're about 4-5 hours away from NYC, and I couldn't fit all that travel in my visits home (and still actually have quality time to spend with the people I'm visiting).  Mom and bro would usually come to NY and stay with me and our family.  So this past Saturday was my younger brother's 19th birthday, and so I made the drive out to visit.  This is their new kitten.  They already have a cat, and my mother has wanted to get a 2nd cat to keep her company, so my brother's birthday was a good excuse.  The grown cat didn't like him at first, of course, but very soon, they were playing chase around the apartment.  We had a nice weekend.