Movin' on up.

Now that I'm nearly completely settled into my new apartment, there isn't much left to do but study for boards. And wait for my little personal golden ticket (ie. Authorization To Test) to arrive. My ATT can't arrive until NDSU sends my transcripts to the State Board of Nursing. So, NDSU, any time you're ready, because I'm so tired of studying. I just need to see what happens next.

So, while playing the waiting game, I need to develop a new hobby. Because if I don't do anything other than study until June 20, I'm going to go a little crazy and be absolutely no fun to be around. So I've decided to try a couple things:

The Fargo Marathon just happened in Fargo. I think it's so inspiring that people train that hard to finish an insane amount of miles. However, I don't believe that the normal human body is made to run 26.2 miles. I think that's painful, and a little insane, so I have no desire to finish the marathon. However...the half is a little better. Maybe. I guess, all I really want, is to be able to say, "Yeah I ran an easy 5 miles..." So today, I started this new "running" thing. I set up an account on MapMyRun.com (when I do things, I do them big...I'm not gonna try and see if I like it first...I'd rather get cyber-harassed by a running company) and went for my first run. I made it 1.89 miles before deciding I didn't really want to do it anymore. Not bad. I can definitely make it 2 miles next time, and we'll just go from there after that. So stay tuned for that progress. Should be interesting for all involved.

I've also decided to volunteer as a pre-CNA mentor through the Skills and Technology Center. The people I'm going to be helping are new American citizens whose first language isn't English. Many of these people were nurses in their own countries, but because of the language barrier, are not able to pass NCLEX and are starting from the very bottom. How sad is that! I can't imagine deciding I had to move somewhere else where my education meant absolutely nothing. So if I can help them, cool.

These things are hopefully going to give me enough to do in the coming weeks while I await the ATT and then can schedule boards. And then, if all goes well, I'm going to be an RN,BSN by June 20. I can't wait. I got some really cool news...my favorite nursing instructor was recommending me to the ICU to start as one of the first new grads back in the ICU since they outlawed them a few years back to focus on implementing new studies and requiring experience. Unfortunately, I turned this down. I have a job on the surgical/trauma floor already, and while the ICU sounds really exciting, I think I need 6 months to a year to...grow, I guess. I want to be nothing less than awesome when I transfer to the ICU.