Back to studying..and freaking out

I've gotten a little off track this past week with studying. It's making me a little nervous, but I think it'll be ok. I spent most of last week helping my cousin put in a new sidewalk for someone here in town. It was a good learning experience. I'm glad we did it. Plus, it was a great workout and I got to be outside. I definitely got a tan. It was in the 90s every day and this place had NO shade. I'm even peeling a little bit. Gross.. But it was a good week and we did a good job. The homeowner was happy.

Now it's back to work on studying for the NPTE. According to the official website, I am finally eligible to take the exam and I should be getting the letter I need to register either tomorrow or Wednesday. I know a couple of people in my class have registered for June 7, but I don't think I'll be ready by then. I'm thinking of scheduling it for June 11 or June 14. The way things are going right now and the way my stomach turns into knots whenever I even think about registering for this exam, I'm thinking it might be the 14th. We'll see how confident I feel after taking another practice test tomorrow.

The only other news in my life is that I officially joined an online site for people who want to lose weight and get fit. It's supposed to be very motivating and helpful. I think the best part about it is that you can write down everything you eat and then others can see it and make comments. I don't really want to hear anyone yelling at me for eating junky fried foods, so I'll be more likely to stay away from them (I think). We'll see how it goes. After seeing some pictures of myself that were taken this weekend, I think all I really need to do is just keep looking at those pictures and no food will sound good what so ever. Wish me luck.

One down, One to go

Well a bit of good news has come today - I passed the Ohio Laws exam! It's definitely the easier of the two exams I have to take, but it's over and I'm done with it! I'm so excited! Only the NPTE stands between me and a license to practice physical therapy. Well...actually I'm still waiting on UT to send my paperwork in so I can even take the NPTE, but that is out of my control.

Nothing else is new with me. I'm glad I took the Ohio test yesterday, because now I know exactly where I need to go to take the NPTE when I eventually take it and I know what to expect. It's always so much more nerve-wracking when you don't know what part of the building to go to and if your forms of identification are acceptable, etc. Now I know it's going to be fine, even though my driver's license is cracked, it's still an acceptable form of ID.

So now it's back to the grind of studying hard day after day for the NPTE. I can't wait until all of this studying is over. We've had such nice weather lately that it's been very distracting. All I want to do is go sit outside! It's been sunny and high 80s and it's supposed to continue that way all week. It makes me really wish I had a house with a pool or pond or that I lived on a lake! Maybe someday if I can pass this exam, that will happen!

It's NOT raining

So now we have amazing sunny and warm weather and I want to do anything at all besides study! This weather is making me want to go sit outside on a patio with a cold drink and read a good book.

Too bad I don't have a patio and the NPTE review & study guide is not my idea of a "good book." Oh well. I will just keep at it and dream of the day that I can afford a house that has a front porch.

Monday is the day I'm taking the Ohio laws exam. I'm ready to get that done and over with (and pass it). I just got some sort of letter in the mail from UT that there is a hold on my account until I do some more exit counseling for student loans. I already did this counseling, but apparently there is some other type that I need to do in addition. I'm not too thrilled about the fact that they waited until May 18 to tell me this, because I guarantee that is what the hold up is with all of my paperwork that needs to be sent in so I can take the NPTE. Oh well. I guess that gives me more time to study. As long as they keep my job held for me, that's all that matters (oh and as long as I can start at this job before the rest of my money runs out!).

Just getting this Ohio test over with on Monday will be a huge relief. That'll be one packet of information that I can put away on a shelf forever. Plus, it will be a good test-run for me to go and take this one hour exam at the same place I'm going to take the NPTE. That way, I'll know exactly where to go and what to expect on the big day.

Well, I am going to go sit and feel sorry for myself that I am inside doing laundry on such a gorgeous day!

Another stormy day

The weather today (it's storming) pretty much matches my mood about studying. I have no motivation to take another practice test, so I'm just trying to review the areas that are the most difficult for me. It's pretty slow going. All this studying is causing me to sit in the worst postures ever and I feel like I'm getting a pressure sore on my ischial tuberosities. My neck hurts from looking down at a book all the time. They need to make a review book on tape, so I can just lay in my bed and listen to it over and over again.

Nothing else is new in my life. All this time off is giving me time to think and be lonely. It's not so much fun. Needless to say, I'm very ready to get this test over with so I can go back to work. But I've also had some time to think about some other things too. I suppose I've been single long enough now and I should probably get serious about dating again. The problem is, I am so picky and can't really think of any eligable single guys around here that I am really interested in. I suppose I will just let whatever happens happen.

Please pray for my little town!

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen at all? It seems like our little town has been over-flowing with bad things happening and sadness and hurt. I know God has a plan for it all, but sometimes it's really difficult to figure it out. I guess it's not really our place to try to figure out why.

In the past month the following have happened:

• a young guy in our town who had just gone through extensive chemo for leukemia was just getting back to a "normal" life of going to school and hanging out with his friends when they realized that his leukemia was back. He now needs a bone marrow transplant and is in a clinical trial of a new type of chemo. He's only 14. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
• a well-known guy from our town in his 40s had a sudden massive stroke that left him with severe brain damage. He passed away last week. He has two kids. One is in her 20s and his son is graduating high school next week.
• a young couple from town just lost a baby. He survived only a couple of days. Please keep them all in your prayers too. It's a tough tough time for them right now.

Not only did all of that happen just in the past month, it was more like the past 2 weeks. It's so sad. Our whole town is grieving in one way or another. None of these people did anything to deserve any of this. No one ever does. It's just so heart-breaking to see it all happening. I don't understand why things like this happen. I guess I never will. All I can do is just keep saying prayers and trust that God knows what he's doing.

Retail therapy, thank you

So I'm feeling a little bit better about the whole studying for the NPTE thing today. I got in 8 hours of studying, which, in reality, is probably about 6 solid hours of good studying, so I'm happy. I didn't get as far as I wanted to be by this point, but I'm making progress.

I'm probably also feeling better about the fact that I just put myself through some pretty intense retail therapy. I haven't been shopping in so long, and I really don't have the time or energy to drive to Toledo or Ft. Wayne to shop, so I just spent a half hour shopping online at Old Navy and Kohls. $100+ later, I am going to have a new wardrobe by the end of the week. I've found that moving so many times last fall actually destroyed a lot of my shirts. You see, I am the laziest mover ever. I don't pack my clothes up. I just take them off the closet hangars and all and throw them in my car. Well, 90% of my shirts are developing little holes in the arms from being pulled on the edges of the hangars. So I need lots of new shirts. Plus, even though one of the major perks of my job is to be able to wear scrubs every day, I still am going to need/want to get dressed up occasionally, so new shirts were definitely in order. I finally took care of the issue while sitting on my couch wearing sweatpants. I saved enough in gas money to offset the cost of the shipping.

Not much else is new in my life. Study study study. That's pretty much it. One week from today is my Ohio laws exam. I've been told that it's not a big deal to wait and study for that a few days beforehand, so now I'm just focused on studying for the big one. Tomorrow I'm studying neuro all day and then taking another practice exam. Wish me luck! Although if I fail another one, I will be sure to keep trying harder!

Big Fail

I was pretty much nothing but a big failure this weekend. I need to step it up into high gear. I've lost all motivation to study. I was doing really good for about 2.5 days and then I lost all my steam. I think at this point, I'm starting to realize that there is just a lot of information that I do not know that I need to know and it's too scary to try to learn.

For example, when studying prosthetics and orthotics, it's really hard to learn what each one is and what it's used for without a picture. Do you think the study book or review guide come with pictures? No. Do you think I have time to look them up in a separate book when I need to study "efficiently?" No. However, I attempted to learn all about orthotics and prosthetics for about 2 hours and can not repeat any of it back to anyone...therefore, wasting those 2 hours of study time, because I retained...nothing.

There's about 10,000 charts of very important/vital information such as gait deviations, normal values of blood proteins, etc. I know I am going to have to have these charts memorized, so I read the chart, but reading it does not help memorize it and when I realize that, my brain turns to mush.

I wish I had one of those brains that soaked up information like a sponge and I could just read things once or twice and remember them. Oh no, I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADD, because I can read things 500 times and still really learn them. Instead of undiagnosed ADD, I think I have an undiagnosed learning disability. Seriously. I have to work so much harder than other people do just to learn stuff. It's no fair!

Needless to say, my positive attitude is slipping away. I need it to come back for that 80% that it's supposed to count for on the exam. I've decided to give myself the rest of the night off from studying since I can't seem to be productive about it at all....and tomorrow I'll hit the books again....hard.

In other news, I went and looked at a house today. I am nowhere near ready to purchase a house seeing as how I haven't even started my job yet and am nowhere near saved up for a down payment. However, it was fun to look. The house I looked at was small and cozy. It was all updated on the inside, had an awesome yard, a 2 car garage, a patio with a hot tub, but the bedrooms were itty bitty. The master bedroom was only big enough for a queen sized bed and that was IT. No room for end tables even or a dresser. Plus the house was over-priced because the owners have just updated it. It's always fun to look, but I think I'll keep looking. I have to pass the NPTE before I even get a paycheck, so that's my #1 priority for the time being. Sigh...