Friday, October 4, 2013

can it just stay Friday forever?

This has been a hellish week, and while I'm glad it is finally Friday, I almost wish the weekend wouldn't arrive. Huh? What? Allow me to explain.

First, I'll back up.  Last weekend I went to Austin to handle some wedding plans.  My future in-laws visited Austin from Friday through Saturday to check out some venues for the rehearsal dinner.  I headed to town Thursday night and stayed until Sunday morning to get a little extra time with my family.  I really miss my family and it is so nice to spend time with them.

there is nothing better than spending time with this gorgeous lady

But. There's always a but.  I was WORN OUT.  When I drove back to Houston on Sunday, I had to spend the rest of the day studying for my psych finals.  That's right, finals. As in TWO EXAMS.  We had our course final bright and early Monday morning (you may have seen my IG post about getting up at 4am), followed by our ATI exam that afternoon.  (ATI is a test company and for most courses we have in nursing school we take a content test made by ATI that should predict how we will do on the board exam when we graduate.) 

Pretest ritual: quite spot, headphones in, iced coffee, and practice questions.  Also, these jeggings made for super comfy but professional test attire.  I wore mine with a long shirt to hide the "legging-ness".

In a normal week, I only head to Galveston once for tests/class/seminar.  My nursing program is a hybrid accelerated BSN program.  The accelerated part means that it only takes a year as compared to 2 years in the traditional program.  The hybrid part means that it is mostly self-directed - all of our theory courses are online, combined with our clinical visits, our lab skills, and exams.  Lab skills and exams take place on campus. We have exams each week but we only have lab at the beginning of a course. Once we've learned the skill, we then put it into practice at our clinical visits which eliminates the need to attend lab on campus.  Does that make sense?

So back to this week.  Like I said, we normally only need to be on campus once a week. I live in Houston which means that without traffic it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to school.  Because our Adult 2 course started last week, we had lab this week to learn to insert IVs, draw blood, change central line dressings, and suction tracheostomy tubes.  It was GREAT. Except for needing to be on campus 4 days in a row.  I am totally exhausted from all the back-and-forth, the long days in lab, and then trying to study while I'm at home.  I'm relived that today I only have to work at Pure Barre for a few hours in the morning.

So why I am wishing the weekend wouldn't arrive?  Two words.


TOUGH. MUDDER.

This Saturday is the Tough Mudder race.  We checked out the course earlier this week and I am legit scared.  First, it is 13 miles. WHAT? I was expecting 10 miles and that was enough to make my heart race.  But 13 miles? I wasn't planning on that until November 23rd and without crazy obstacles.


You can view a better version here. And check out descriptions of the obstacles.

I just hope I can finish. And if my arms still work on Sunday, I'll do a recap.  


Anyone else ever done the Tough Mudder? Or any other type of obstacle race? I'd love to hear about your experience and any tips or tricks you've got!  Wish me luck!

xoxo,
Cait

4 comments:

  1. Good luck with your tough mudder! I want to work up to one of those! I can not wait to see how you do!

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  2. I just read someone's recap of Tough Mudder and it scared the hell out of me (but remember, I am lazy and not an athlete!). Apparently shoes with traction and moisture wicking clothes are a must. Can't wait to read your recap!

    I have friends who work at ATI and write the manuals so it's funny you mentioned that. Hope you have a restful weekend (after Tough Mudder, that is...)

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  3. Dang what a week!! It will all be worth it when you're done! I commuted at night from Milwaukee to Chicago for grad school for a year, 5 hour round trip sometimes so I totally understand how you feel!

    Good luck this weekend, I'm sure you will kill it!

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  4. Ah my brother did this! He actually liked it so much he chose to do it again in another state! I wish I had tips for you, but I'm sure you'll do just fine! Good luck!

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