time, $0

Lately, I have been thoroughly enjoying the fact that I have free time. Yes, I said it. Free time. I was told I would never see any of that again until finishing nursing school, but I'm ever so happy to report that free time is upon me.
A quick update:
I have officially been on 'summer break' (if you can call it that) since the final days of July. The summer months of June and July rounded out with the completion of both maternity & community heath clinical rotations. In a nutshell: maternity=best time ever spent and community=not so much. Don't get me wrong, I love community health and all that it stands for and all that CH nursing achieves. However, I was disappointed to say the least at the clinical experience that was supposed to give me a glimpse into the area. I won't bore you with my complaints, but I will say that a one-day observation at the state capitol's public health STD clinic gave me an amazing perspective into public health nursing and a got enough out of that one day to make up for the rest. Anyway...
I just returned to ivyville from an incredibly relaxing week in my home state. I split my time between my parents' and my man's, and let me tell you...it was delightful. Sure, I had to take care of annoying things such as renewing my license and going to the dermatologist (no cancer, btw!), etc. But, I also celebrated a birthday in style, made some fashionable purchases, and even completed a jigsaw puzzle. I purposefully ignored phone calls and emails (sorry everyone) and took time for myself. Oh! I even treated myself to a facial as my birthday present to myself.
Now that my mini vacation has come to a close, I still have a couple of weeks before it's back to the grind. I've been babysitting for an adorable 2-month-old throughout the summer, which keeps me occupied about 4 hrs/day. I've also been getting to the gym more and I've been able to take the time to cook some delicious, in-season, healthy meals. Did I mention I've lost a little over 15 lbs?
So far, I think I've read 4 novels this summer, which has been great. I'm slowly but surely making my way through the books I purchased on my reading list. I just started The Glass Castle this afternoon and I have a feeling it's going to keep me up late tonight!
School starts up again on September 1st. The week before that I will be very present at the orientation for the new kiddies. It's hard to belive that it's been a year since I was getting my supplies and moving in and freaking out about starting something COMPLETELY new. I'm glad I will be there to tell the newbies that they, too, will survive!
I'm looking forward to my clinical this semester, even though I don't yet know much about it. I know that it will be a one-on-one experience in GYN/primary care. It will most likely be in an office or clinic setting. I am just so thrilled to get into the nitty gritty of what I am most interested in! My mom treated me to a fancy new stethescope for my birthday, so I'm looking forward to get to use that, as well.
I'm itching to read my new book, but that's all for now. I hope I am better with keeping up the blogging this upcoming semester. : )

Speaking of blogging, did you see Julie & Julia yet? If not, take your favorite pal and do so...STAT!