Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Statistics!

Well my Statistics class began Monday and I'm already getting a headache over it.  I turned in my assignment last night, but I honestly have no idea if I even did it correctly. Boo!  Hopefully I did, or at least will get feedback about it quickly so I can fix any mistakes.

After reading my required chapters, I went over the powerpoint and was reminded about terms such as meta-analysis and quasi-experimental and psychometric evaluations.  Not only am I taking Statistics, but it seems like I am going through Evidence Based Practice all over again.   I was hoping I'd make it through another few classes before being immersed in it again.  Oh well. What really took a long time, though, was trying to figure out the program we are using. It's called SPSS and seems like a more complicated version of Excel. (which of course I've never really used before).  THAT truly is what gave me a headache.  Then after going over what I thought was homework for an hour, I realized I actually had done the graded portion first and pretty much wasted an hour of my time.  Well, I suppose it wasn't truly wasted since I did actually learn what to do with SPSS (at least the extreme basics).   Hopefully last night was the worst and I'll pick it up more quickly next time...

Assuming I actually figure out what's going on, I am hoping to get ahead and complete my coursework quickly.  As of Tuesday evening, I have turned in this entire week's homework.  I'm not sure if all the weeks are going to be similar it terms of amount, but if so I should be able to do at least 2 week's worth per week. Since this is a 12 week course (of which 10 weeks have actual homework), I should be able to get through this quickly.


So we'll see how well that plan works out....I'm sure I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting into.  I tried to complain about my poor, pitiful homework-ridden life to a friend (and old undergrad nursing classmate), but she cheerfully reminded me that this was why SHE was not going to graduate school. Which pretty much took all the wind out of my sails. After all, I did sign up for this.... :)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Getting excited!

I am becoming ridiculously excited about Frontier Bound in November.   Seriously, can Nov 8th hurry up and get here already!?


This is what I've done for preparation:

* Banyan Tree 101 - DONE
* Register for Frontier Bound - DONE
* Pay registration fees - DONE
* Mail Health Forms - DONE
* Read Wide Neighborhoods- Need to finish this


Now all I need to do is get my Ipod Touch (which should be arriving today, yay!) and save up my pennies for the trip.  I'll be driving, so I will just need gas money and then of course funds for buying grad school swag.  I hope they have lots of things..I want to be a walking buildboard for Frontier, haha!!


I'm still looking for someone to ride with, but the few students that are in my class and from Virginia are flying. Boo.  I'm stocking up on audiobooks though, and quite honestly I think I'll enjoy the drive.  I drove a little over 7 straight hours overnight when we went down to Florida a few weeks ago and I really liked it. (as long as I have audiobooks, otherwise I may fall asleep)

Thursday, September 16, 2010

...and so it begins

Since I have many exciting adventures to look forward to in the next few months, I've decided that maybe now would be a good time to attempt working on a blog.  About once a year I get a crazy idea to start one, post maybe one or two entries, and decide my life is too boring to write out consistently. Maybe this time will be different ;)


So I (finally) graduated last May with my Bachelor's in Nursing.  It only took...oh....10 years since graduating high school.  Sad eh?  But this is what I get for taking a break and then changing majors. Oh well.  It's funny, during the last couple of months of school I thought of nothing else but finishing so that I could SLEEP and RELAX.   That was May and by the time the end of June rolled around I was so antsy and missing taking care of my Mommas that I decided to go ahead and enroll into grad school. So I did some research and applied to a highly rated distance education program. I'm extremely excited and proud to say that I got in and will be starting to work towards my Master's degree in January.  Part of me feels like I must be a glutton for punishment, but I truly do thrive on education.  I'm also crazy.

Another reason why I decided to go ahead and enroll now is because ever since my own negative birthing experience with Allie, I have felt a strong desire to go into obstetrics.  Working as a Labor and Delivery nurse was definitely a dream of mine, and I still would love to do so, but I knew I would face issues where I didn't agree with the physician regarding their chosen course of treatment.  That is when I knew I found my calling: nurse midwifery.   It still seems surreal to me when I think about returning to school and the possibility of really becoming a Nurse Midwife.  For now though, I am trying to be patient and focus on the present. I will be starting my Statistics class soon (yikes!). Of course I also have a crazy 13 month old Daughter who is the love of her parents' (and grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc, etc,etc.) lives. And speaking of Daddy, I also have a husband who is trying to focus on completing his own Bachelor's degree and needs my assistance with his homework as well.   

It's going to be a crazy time coming up. But really, when is it not in our household? :)