Spring Quarter Blues

Pre-nursing Hump

I am in Spring Quarter.. and I officially have the pre-nursing blues.  I have one more pre requisite course after this quarter for my sciences and then I am done.. ready to apply to Nursing school.  2 years have almost passed since I began and it will be one quarter more than two years from starting pre-reqs before I will get in.  If I get in.. and I still have many miles to travel to get in.  Once I get in, IF I get in, then I have three more years until my BSN is completed.  I will be 46 when that happens.  What was I thinking? 

Things have changed, I was supposed to be able to apply for Fall, but they changed the rules.. just last week, so now I am having to do a “dead” quarter.  The up side.. it won’t really be a dead quarter since I have Honors course work I can do and I can study for the TEAS exam, and I can maybe breathe a little more.. and look for a job that I can do really, really part time, and I can catch up on some housework that won’t get done for 3 years.  I can spend some time with the kid since he will be a Senior in high school.  I could do my laundry that quarter, that might be cool.

I joke.. a bit, but this quarter has me acting like a Wanker a bit.  I have slacked in my studying, I bombed a math test, and I have even not studied at all for one test and got a B.. and I am ashamed of myself, but yet, I continue to act like a wanker.  I have however, vowed to stop being a wanker and to turn over a fresh leaf before it is too late.  I am two exams down in Physiology and Stats, so it is not too late.  I have three left.  I did get an A on my first Physiology exam.. but I care about that class since it is the one that counts for nursing school.  Honors nutrition and Statistics aren’t really giving me any excitement, so I will have to make up some.  This blog is about to transition into a blog about Physiology, and then Microbiology, and then some more Chemistry and a little Sociology for good measure.  I may throw in a bit of World Music over the summer as well.

After Fall quarter.. I  really hope that this blog turns into the adventures of a non- traditional nursing student.

This was taken last Sunday on my first hike of the season with a very good friend of mine.  It was a fabulous day and reminded me of why I live where I live!

RIP My beautiful horse

The beautiful Beau.. who is now with my family in heaven and our dog Jake.

Hello everyone.. I have been absent for two reasons.  One very sad, and the other very important.  I finished up last quarter with Anatomy, and I am now in Physiology.  Unfortunately, the night before finals, my beautiful Beau horse was presenting with colic like symptoms.  We opted for surgery, but it was not colic, it was a cyst that had lodged just right in his gut.  They couldn't save him so I lost my beautiful horse.  It has been a very very sad time for me and I have pretty much thrown myself into school now.  This quarter it is Honors Nutrition, Statistics, Weightlifting, and Physiology.  If I can't ride, I can at least focus on school.

I really enjoy weightlifting and nutrition.  I just learned today that Palm oil is mostly grown on plantations in tropical climates that are not being sustained.  Only 6% of Palm oil is grown sustainably.  Palm oil is in 50% of all processed foods.. makes you think. 

Honors nutrition class has really opened my eyes.  I may even start posting some stuff from that class and my weightlifting class.

I just miss my horse though, and I am doing everything I can to not dwell too much.  I have cried and cried.    I cry even though I believe that my father is looking after my horse.

My husband though is building a beautiful box to put his ashes in.  We had him privately cremated so that he can be with me wherever I go.. I know to some it is a little creepy, but for me, I needed to do that, so that he wasn't just gone.

If anyone is still reading this... have a fabulous rest of the week!

Day 5 and counting

So far, So interesting.

So today marks the fifth day of my not eating any dairy or wheat or gluten or chocolate or well anything that I used to eat on a regular basis.  It has been.. well surprisingly okay for this first five days.  Only two headaches and they weren’t intolerable and the gut is better.  Not great yet, but definitely better.

A side effect.. I am down three pounds.  Now I know it is water weight and it is nothing to get all crazy excited about.. yet.. except that I am a little.  I stuck to my three Zumba classes and one Yoga class.  I am going to try and hit a Zumba class this morning, but I have study group, so It will all depend on the timing.

I am looking at new recipes this weekend in between studying for my first Anatomy Exam and Practical.  I purchased some Gluten Free Bisquick and I hope to try it out tomorrow.  The thing I really want to eat?  A brownie.. Because it is chocolate, gooey and yummy.  So I have to figure our a solution for that one. 

I do have a new favorite fruit at night.  The Asian Pear.  Wow.  Crispy, light and packed with water.  It’s texture to me is like really good watermelon.  That helps a great deal for me at night when I just have to have something sweet. 

I am loving Zumba so much and Yoga was good.  I hope that I can get much better in Yoga.. it is hard for me.. and I am much stiffer on the left than the right.  I will keep at it though, as this is the year for me.  I figured out my goal weight.. 135lbs.  That gives me 5 lbs either way.

I am 70 lbs away now.. so I have a very long way to go.. but it is only 7 lbs a month on average that I need to lose.. that I can totally do.. especially if I can do the two a week that is my goal.

More important.. I think I want to do something this year that scares the living daylights out of me.  I would like to run a race and bike the Seattle to Vancouver Bike ride. Why would these things scare me?  I don't like to run because I am scared I will fall down and embarress myself.. and because I can't run very well yet, I feel like a total goober when I run.  The bike ride.. totally up my ally except all I have for a bike right now is a beach cruiser.. no gears, and no way can I ride it from here to the store let alone from Seattle to Portland or Seattle to Vancouver.. but those are things I am tossing around in my brain to keep me focused on my goals.

Happy Weekend.. I am now off to study group for the next 8 hours!

New Year and some revelations

I had severe food allergies growing up.  As in, I ate nothing with Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Chocolate or much refined sugar in it until I was 17.  Seriously.  I had my first taste of ice cream when I was 17 as I was introducing foods into my diet to test my tolerances.  It was weird.  I had never tasted ice cream (real ice cream) before.  The kicker?  My dad worked at a dairy.. how fun was that?  He would bring home cheese, butter and cases of yogurt and ice cream that I could not eat.. nice.  Except that I don't remember caring much because I had never had it.

I was the kid who had a fruit cup at birthday parties, or my mom would make gluten free cupcake with carob chips.. ackkkkk.. gaaggg..

I had allergy shots each week, one in each arm on a Tuesday after school and again on Friday after school.  Twice a week for 14 years.  I developed some tolerances to food and now those tolerances have again eroded.  I have given up these foods several times in my adult life, only to succumb back to their siren song and pretend I can live with the effects. 

This last week, it has gotten nearly intolerable.  The itchy is back, I am completely bloated and my gut is in tatters.  My skin is so dry and flaky and horrible, I almost can't stand it. 

What to do??? well research of course.  I am thinking that I need to do another elimination diet and will probably have to give up wheat, dairy, gluten and chocolate.  I am hoping that I can still tolerate soy and corn though, but I will most likely have to moderate those.  This blog will probably change focus just a little bit, and I am going to really try and document this process as I will need to keep track of how I feel each day and what foods do what.  Who knows?  maybe someone else somewhere will find it helpful.  Stay tuned, as I have to plan a little for this.  Hope everyone is having a lovely year of the dragon so far.