Long Time, No Post

I feel so bloggy delinquent! The past few days have just been so busy and overwhelming that I didn't have the energy or brain power to write a real post. So what have I been doing? Registering for classes, getting ready for our neighborhood block yard sale, a 10 hour (supposed to be 4hr) trip to IKEA, visiting the PGPs, and playing catch up with friends. I will start with the class registration fiasco.

I think most of you all know that nursing school is in my upcoming future. I had met with the nursing advisers prior to this week and, not to sound braggy, but the general consensus was that, if anything, I was over qualified. I knew that I needed to take a few prerequisite classes that weren't included in my government major curriculum, but, according to the nursing school adviser, it was just Anatomy & Physiology.

So on Wednesday I went to the required General Information Session for all potential nursing students, and wouldn't you know that my bad luck struck again! The format of the nursing program changed over the summer, which still shouldn't have affected me, but because the changes were brand new, there were a lot of loopholes that haven't yet been addressed. Of course I fall into all of these loopholes.

For example- I got a 4 (out of a 5) on my AP English Exam in high school, which exempted me from having to take English at W&M. But to be on the safe side, I still took a literature history class that also satisfied my English Gen. Ed. requirement. The nursing program has 7 prerequisite class requirements, one of which is English 101. I had been assured that my AP 4 score would certainly fill that, as would my history lit. class. As it turns out, they do exempt me, as well as give me credit, for English, but English 201 and English 211. I am not exempt from the lower level English 101! My adviser said if this had been last semester it wouldn't be an issue, but because of the new regulations, they haven't created any solutions for this kind of problem. Essentially, this would be the English class I took in the 10th grade. The only bright side is that I can CLEP Test out of it- but that's $100, which I'm going to take, but it's still freakin' annoying!

Oh, and it gets worse. Another PreReq is Developmental Psychology and I took Developmental Psych. as a Biological Science- which is the same thing, just more intensive and more difficult. But they don't see it that way since it was Psych 211 and their Psych is 201. Unfortunately, there's no getting out of that one and I now have to take that class too.

Did you think that was it? Nope, there's more. A college level algebra class is also required, and that's simple enough because I took calculus at W&M. The problem is the way nursing school configures your GPA. They only look at the grades you received in your PreReq courses- those 7 classes become the GPA they use for admittance. Since I took biology and chemistry in high school, I'm exempt from those classes, but high school grades are not allowed for GPA determination. Basically, this means that the only classes that are going to comprise my GPA are Dev. Psych., Anatomy, and Calculus. Here's the rub- I got a C+ in calculus (my only C) and it was 4 credits. W&M didn't offer an easier math class for the Gen.Ed. requirement so I HAD to take it, and trust me, I consider that C+ one of the greatest accomplishments of my life! (Well, they had something called Math Powered Flight, but after seeing my friends in tears over that class, I decided against it).

So even though the math class I took was about 5 times the level of the nursing school math requirement, it's still a four credit C+ that will severely lower my GPA. What does that mean you might be asking yourself? It means that I will probably (I haven't registered for it yet) take their math class PreReq, as it will void my calculus grade; even though it's the same class I took in the 10th grade. (I took Pre-Calc in 11th and Calc in 12th, this class is something called Elements of Algebra.) The lowest GPA that was admitted last semester was a 3.3 and with two A's in the other classes plus that C+, it would only give me a 3.3. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to take that math class, thank goodness they offer it online. Basically, being overqualified has only hurt me and that is REALLY annoying.

My Psych class meets every Thursday night for three hours and my Anatomy & Physiology is a hybrid class, half is online and then every other Saturday we meet from 8:30am-4:30pm. I am SO thankful for this because it means my mom or her MiMi will be able to watch Spencer. I'm not ready, emotionally or financially, to put her in day care yet, so this schedule really works out well for the both of us.
The school/registration thing took up a few days and then there was IKEA. Shocking as this may seem, I'd never been there. The closest one to us is about an hour and a half away and some how I just never made there. On Friday, my aunt drove me, my mom, and Spencer to IKEA- we left at 8:30am, and the goal was to be back on the road by 12:30pm- just in time for Spencer's nap. Well Spencer was not on her A-Game, and it was a disaster. The whole point of both my mom and my aunt going was that one of them would watch/entertain Spencer while the other one helped me shop. I was only looking for a few things for her playroom, and I'd picked out some cheap storage solutions that I wanted. (You know, the kind with colorful cubbies, etc.) Spencer had other ideas, because the second I walked out of her sight she began screaming, and you could hear her all over the store. She also threw a HOLY temper tantrum every time we'd put her in the cart or her stroller.

IKEA is right on the high way so you couldn't just take her outside and walk around and the parking lot is under the store in a garage, so that wasn't a very good option either. The result was a frantic shopping trip that was only mildly productive. I did get one storage cubby bin and a great wooden easel for only $14.99. But it was not what I had in mind for my trip to IKEA. Then on the way back home there was some kind of monster mess on the road that resulted in a two hour traffic jam. We finally were able to get off on an exit and take the back way, but it took forever. We left the store at 12pm and didn't get home until after 5pm. And of course Spencer didn't fall asleep until 4:30pm, which meant I had a VERY cranky, VERY miserable two year old to wrangle when I got home.

Whew, just recalling and writing all that made me exhausted all over again! So that's what's been happening in my world, never a dull or easy moment. This Saturday our block is having a yard sale and I'm trying to get my stuff ready for that and on then on Sunday we're leaving for the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina for a week with Spencer's Great-PGPs. And the next week I start classes! Say a quick prayer for me when you get a chance! ha!