Court, School, and More

So I had court on Monday and I won my case. I did not get all the money I was hoping for but I am happy with the outcome overall. Everything going on with the bugs has really challenged me and what I am capable of. I proved to myself that even when life gets really tough, I can still stay strong and fight for what I believe. I did not give up when I felt as if everything was hopeless, rather turned to family for some strength and got through it. Just as my title of this blog says, Strength, Determinence, and Persevere... that is exactly what I did. I can not remember having to face something so tough while I have been on my own.

Anyways, I finished two of my three summer classes, Patho and Geronotology. I got an A in Gero and I am awaiting the grade in Patho. Monday will be the last day of my other class, English, but I have to write 3 papers by then. Nothing like being swamped with hw and working 33 hrs during that time frame as well. Balancing my time will be key. I am hoping Abby and Nate will be able to review and edit my ten page paper somewhat so I can focus on my other two and get those finished.

So as ridiculous as it sound, I have already been making a list of everything I need to do in the next three weeks after school gets out. It is absolutely ridiculous! I can not believe how much stuff I have to do and work full time on any days that I have. My life is so busy now with everything going on, how does one have time to have children, be a wife and everything else. I honestly have zero clue how my sister does it being a single mother and she wants to have more children... husband or not!!! WTF!!! Don't get me wrong, I am happy for her but she must be some type of super woman because I am overwhelmed with out children.

Court and More

Well it has been almost a month since I blogged but life has been so busy. I tried to blog a couple weeks ago right after I got back from MN but when all was said and done, it deleted everything some how. I said screw it and did not want to retype it at all. Well the next big things in my life include court on Monday! I am so nervous that it is not even funny. I have Brian coming down on Sunday and tomorrow I find out if Travis will be down to testify. On top of trying to meet with my lawyer to make sure I have all my T's crossed and I's dotted, I am in the last two weeks of school for my three summer classes so I have finals going on right now as well. My lawyer thinks I can represent myself in court because I seem to be on top of everything and he recommends that I ask for more than what I have originally asked for. He asked me to addend the original report and ask for 8-10,000 instead of $4,000. The judge can always give me less than what I ask for but he can not give me more. I am trying to stay level headed about everything but I do not feel like I am doing a good job.

School seems to be going good for me. I can fail my Patho final and still pass the class... that is reassuring since I may not have a whole lot of time to study for this one. In English I got a 96/100 on my essay and his response insinuated that he really enjoyed reading it. I have another one due this Sunday, a Gerontology assignment due Monday, two quizzed due, a ten page paper due in a week, a final test on Wednesday and anything else that may pop up in the middle some where.

Mihnie gets declawed in the front and back tomorrow. I am so nervous bringing her there. I hate the idea that I am bringing my little girl to a place that will hurt her. It does not exactly sit well with me. I cried my eyes out when I brought Goldie in to get this done. Mihnie is also getting fixed tomorrow. Triple wammy! Enough of this ... time to get back to work...

Parents Weekend

So my parents came to visit me this weekend. It was so nice to see them and actually get the chance to spend quality time with them. They got see what the house looks like now that we have finished a good chunk of it for now and they also got to see what my life is like down here. It was relaxing but busy. Saturday they got here at 12:45 pm... just as we were finishing up the house. We went out to eat at the Alamo and I treated them for their anniversary and Dad's birthday. Sunday we had a lunch get together at the park for everyone who has helped me since I have moved down here. There was 12 of us and it was nice to see everyone and have everyone finally meet my parents. Sunday evening we drove around Charleston and showed them the town. Today we drove to Mattoon and I showed them my work, my old apartment, and a few other places. In the afternoon I brought them to Nate's fire station and he gave them the grand tour. Mom loved it. She was so cute and curious... Just like a little kid. They were genuinely interested in what Nate's job was like.


Back of the ambulance...where Nate hits on the old ladies!

Fire truck

Mom in the firetruck

Nate teaching dad stuff about the engine

This is a camera that can detect heat ... that is mom's face on the camera screen. Creepy!

Mom trying on an air pack... she was nervous because she was struggling with breathing

Trying on Nate's jacket... what is that hand doing between her legs?!?!?
She looks pretty slutty in this picture! Don't worry... we told her!

I hate to see them leave tomorrow morning at 5 am but I know I have studying to do and they have stuff they need to get done as well. Hopefully they will be able to make it down again. Nate was a gentleman and agreed to give up the master bedroom for them when they came so they had a huge bedroom and the attached bathroom all to themselves. What a nice guy he is! Mom and dad think he is great and have a lot of respect for what he does with his life. It is nice to see they all get along so well and my parents approve of him!

Hopefully Tanya and Hunter will be able to come down sometime soon and see me as well! Hunter might like the fire truck?!?! I get to see them next week for She Woman and I am extremly excited. I am all packed and mom and dad are bringing my suit case back home tomorrow so I don't have to carry it on the plane with me on the way there... lighter load!

Awkward!

For the first time since being down here I have felt completely uncomfortable in my own place of dwelling. Nate's entire family came over tonight to help put the house together before my parents came down to visit. They were painting, mudding... you name it... they were doing it. I appreciate their help so much and they got so much done for us but I felt as if I was someone from the outside looking in; not welcome. If I was in the presence of certain family members I got the cold shoulder. I felt alone, shunned, disappointed, and upset. A whirlwind of emotions hit me that I have not had to deal with in a long time and I just shut myself down... became quiet and stayed in my own little corner of the house... daring not to get in the way of anyone. Since I am taking a full load this summer (9 credits ... 6 credits is considered full time) and have a huge test on Wednesday, I informed Nate that I would not be able to sit and work on the house... I needed to study for my exam coming up. I expressed concern to him that his family would be upset with me that they were over here painting since Nate asked for their help, and here I am sitting in the bedroom studying for an exam. I mean, the whole point of having everyone over to get the house done is to try and have the house presentable for my parents. Yes, they were doing so much to help meet a deadline for my family. With not seeing me contribute to the construction being done, I can understand where they are coming from. On the other hand though, I thought they would be more understanding of my circumstance and supportive of my studies.

Anywho, enough of this, I am going to take a bath and read another chapter for my test... never caught up and done with everything in the classroom... less then one year left and I will have my BSN... can't wait!

So let me clarify something in my last blog... I have never had a bladder infection... only a yeast infection. Thanks Tanya for correcting me. Anywho, the update for the dang bladder infection... they put me on Macrobid and I started to feel better the first day and the second... then the third day I start to get the sensation back... I can feel the constant urge to go but really can't go. All day, my great toe on my right foot had been hurting. I honestly thought I had gout. I call the doctor the fourth day and I go in for more testing to rule out anything else it could possibly be. She decided that I needed to switch to a different antibiotic because I was not responding to Macrobid. They put me on Cipro and I went home. That day I had been cramping really bad in my legs and my feet were numb off and on. If they were not numb, then they were hurting and cramping really bad. The way I could describe the pain is if someone stripped all the skin off of my leg and laid it back on (just like you lay new grass on the ground). Weird but that is what kept coming to mind. That night I was in so much pain that I was in bed by 730. I felt my throat swell up a couple times through out the day. I started reading the side effects of macro because I had not started my first dose of Cipro until later that night. I found out that muscle cramping, peripheral neuropathy, and respiratory compromise were all side effects of the Macrobid. Nate called the hospital to find out if I needed to be addressed immediately or wait it out a little bit since I was no longer going to be taking the medication. He told Nate not to bring me in yet as long at my vitals were stable (they were). The next morning I felt alot better but it definitely scared me.

So our house is in a bigger mess than before. Our kitchen is getting painted, my bedroom is gutted to plaster, basement gutted, and living-room getting knock down on it... we live out of our bedroom and bathroom currently... can't wait til Friday when everything will be done... just in time for mom and dad to get here. No pressure for the house to be spotless for them! Nate and I got a BIG trampoline the other day so I am waiting for him to put that up for me to lay outside on and just be a kid every now and then. His nephew is over every once in a while as well so he can play on it. Hopefully Hunter will one day as well! Well time for more hw... mwah!

Tanya, I can not figure out how to comment on other people's blogs... :(

bladder infection

So I all of sudden felt it... it was coming... slowly creeping its way down the tube.... whether or not I wanted to accept it, I knew this time it was different. Yep I am pretty sure I have a bladder infection. I have had UTI's in the past but never a bladder infection. Eeks... this sucks. I am as awake as can be and it is 5 am. Grrr. I know my sister and mom have a history of this but not me. I sent an email to my professor who has her own business (physician) and I am hoping she can help me instead of me having to go to the emergency room.

This is horrible timing considering I am leaving Thursday evening to go to Shawnee National Park in the southern tip of IL to go camping all weekend. I will be backpacking through the woods for 2-3 nights and not living out of a camper with a kitchen, living area, bathroom, and bedroom. Yep... my bathroom is a hole in the ground, my kitchen is in the wilderness on a campfire, my livingroom, and my bedroom is a 6 by 6 tent... yes dramatic... I just hope Nate will scare away all the lions and tigers and bears... OH MY! Well enough of that for right now... I have nothing better to do so I might as well get ready for work

Court, Leakage, school, and admirers

So I had court last week for the bed bug issue and my old landlord plead not guilty to the charges so now we go to trial on July 28th. Pretty nervous about it all but everything happens for a reason... so it will all work out.

Also, last week Charleston/Mattoon got hit with some really bad weather. I was working at Sherwin Williams in Mattoon when one of the bed storms came through town. I was working and all of a sudden the sky got dark. All of my employees were out putzing around (when really they were supposed to be at the store working) so I was there by myself. The tornado sirens go off and sure enough... they were legit. There was a tornado that touched down 1/2 mile to a mile away from my place of employment (about the distance from Mom and dads house to my old day care lady, Marilyn). Scared the crap out of me and my employees came back half way through the storm and were just laughing at me. Come to find out the next day in the paper that the tornado took out a business and destroyed at least 8 cars at the car dealership and damaged many other. Well anyway... with all the rain he had, we got water in the basement. I don't mean one little trickle ... but rather from all angles of the house except one corner. Spent all day Saturday cleaning up down in the basement and trying to dry stuff up. We have some mud in the basement we need to get up now as well. Nate took personal leave time from work to get everything out of the basement, remove the carpet, padding, and wood frame for the floor. He also started removing the drywall down there to check the foundation of the house. He will be digging on the outside around the foundation as well. Oh happy.. happy.. joy ... joy. Believe it or not... he has not been crabby. I was expecting him to be ornery and cranky because of how much of a hassle this is and how time consuming it is but he definitely has been in a decent mood. I AM NOT COMPLAINING! Happy to see that when the times get tough he stays composed. Glad one of us does because when things get stressful enough for me... I just cry. Yep... just looking at me wrong makes me ready to break down in tears... that or I make a big announcement that I am cranky and just leave me be for the time.

Summer school is going good. I had my first test in Patho and I got a B!!!!! Definitely excited about that. Geriatrics is going well for me as well. That is such an easy slack class, but Patho makes up for it by being the opposite extreme. I signed up for my English 2 class and Lakeland College in Mattoon today as well. So now I will be taking 9 credits this summer. Keep in mind, 6 credits in the summer is considered full time.

So last week I was visiting Nate at work and some guy that had seen me working at SW saw my car there so they sat there and waited for me to leave the fire station and followed me. I was going to the Vet to bring Mihnie in for her check up appointment and he followed me there as well. (thank goodness I was not going home or he would have found where I lived) He pulled up behind my car in the vet parking lot (blocking me in so I couldn't leave) and said he saw my car and so he wanted to talk. He also commented on how he has been to my place of employment on two different occasions looking for me. We wanted to know if I was a firefighter and worked there as well. He then asked me out to dinner. Of course I said no and then swiftly went inside the Vet to get Mihnie to her appointment and away from him. He creeped me out completely and I ended up having nightmares about it for the next few nights. I told Nate about the event right away and he has some friends that are police officers and had them drive past our house through out the night (since Nate had to work that night and would not be home with me). I had every curtain pulled and definitely became guarded. I am constantly watching for this guys truck constantly when I am on the road. That is the second guy who has followed me since i have been in Charleston. About a month ago I had a guy follow me to work and decided to buy over $2000.00 in paint. He also proceeded to tell my boss that the only reason he was here was because he was me driving and was really attractive (or something to that affect). He was in at the end of last week and I talked to him face to face for the first time. He asked me to dinner two times while I waited on him and of course I said no... but dang... what is up with these IL guys. They are doing a good job at scaring me. I am just trying not to show it or look (appear) vulnerable.

Well time to get back to more hw. Have a good night everyone!