Black Friday

We are laying low avoiding all the crazy shoppers out there this morning. Unlike last year when Barclay and Joe went and got smoking deals on a flat screen TV. There is nothing that we really want or need this year so we are skipping the chaos. Instead, the boys are having tons of fun playing with the gigantic box that my new office chair came in. They have made it into a fort and all sorts of other things. Amazing how much fun a big box can be. :)

We had a wonderful time up at Luke and Casey's new home in Rathdrum yesterday for Thanksgiving. Luke is Mr. Matt's brother. We had Easter Dinner at their house earlier in the year but that was before they moved so we were excited to see what they had built. It was gorgeous and comfy! They are great hosts and it was a really relaxed atmosphere. Despite Mason accidentally giving Zachary a bloody nose, the boys all got along great. It is so nice to have friends that have boys of similar ages. I got to sneak in a few sweet moments with baby Riley who just turned one last week. Keira and Barclay and I (and Zachary) played a game of Yahtzee. It was the longest game ever as all kids kept interrupting and wanting to know what we were doing.

We were home by 6pm and I managed to do about three hours of homework which is great as that has been my goal to do some work every day. Yesterday morning I volunteered at the hospital to hand out blankets to patients to fulfill some of my community service hours that my program requires. When I got home the kids were telling their neighborhood friends that I had gone to donate blood! Crazy rumors.

So anyhow, Joe finally figured out how to download my iphone photos onto my laptop so I can now post them onto my blog. My one and only attempt to blog from my iphone was unsuccessful. It takes a lot of time to get familiar with all these new tools.

My mom is flying out next week to help me with the boys while I finish the last two weeks of my nursing program. Then we will all fly out to Marin on the 16th to catch up with Joe who will be out there catering. Barclay is flying out on the 23rd for four days so that we can all spend Christmas together. I am exciting to have something to look forward to. It's been a very long semester to say the least. Mason is counting down the days to Christmas. FYI 28 days to go!

Blogging from my iPhone in bed

Status of my Nursing Program

Monday we took test number five. I now have a 74.8% average but need a 75% average to "progress" to next semester. So, I am feeling a little stress as there are only a couple more tests for me to take to pull my grade up. They do not round up or grade on a curve. Quite a few people dropped out this week. It is sad to see all that hard work not pay off. I am in it for the long haul. I just need to really focus and study daily. It is such a challenging and time consuming program. All this stress and uncertainty will just make it that much more rewarding when I finally finish. I am thinking positive. I can do it.
Joe is at his last race this week. Yippee! He will be home in a week. He did stop through Marin, again, to see his dad. Fred is not doing well so keep him in your prayers. He is on a feeding tube as he has lost his gag reflect which means his ability to swallow is compromised. He might swallow food/liquid into his lungs. He will be on this feeding tube for the rest of his life and, therefore, he will need 24 hour nursing care after he gets out of the hospital, assuming he gets out. At the other end of Joe's trip, he is going to visit with his step-brother in So Cal to deal with the material items from Curt and Susie's house. Not a pleasant visit under those circumstances. My poor hubby. I feel for him.
Joe will be going to Marin to cater for the month of December. Not great timing for me as I have a lot of stuff happening in my nursing program in December but I have lots of support here. I am toying with the idea of Joe taking Talan with him but that would mean finding a lot of babysitters to help him out while he is at work. I think Fred would love to see Talan. Joe brought Mason when he visited Marin two weeks ago. Joe works mainly at night so it might be possible to do so finagling of various resources there but it might be too much work. I am thinking I'd like to book a flight around Dec 15th/16th to Marin to see Fred myself and celebrate the holidays early with my folks. I do want to be back here in Idaho for Christmas as we like our white Christmas!
Anyway, my mind is wandering. I need to get back to studying. Just wanted to reach out to my friends and let you all know where I am at. I am enjoying school but just shocked how hard it is. I mean, I am at a community college in Idaho. :) I wouldn't have guessed I would be struggling to pass. It is the best program in the area by a long shot but I am used to earning great grades. Wish me luck. Lots of love to all of you. xoxo Brianna