Exactly one year from today, I will walk out of my last class of nursing school (assuming that I will have class on Friday, but that's a minor detail.)  Regardless, one year from today, I will be finished.  While that seems like an official eternity away, it begins a countdown of sorts.  This past year has gone quickly, and here is to hoping that the next one does, as well.

As of this past Thursday, I finished MedicalSurgical Nursing II, which came as a bit of a smack in the face, but which turned out well in the end.  Actually, it turned out better in the end than I even planned for, which is a nice little surprise.  Tomorrow, I start OB/Peds, for which I am so excited and nervous at the same time.  From what I understand, the class is pretty tough.  Not everyone has made it through, but the majority has and that brings me hope.  If there is anything that nursing school can do to a person, it's to make them constantly second-guess their ability to complete anything, and I have fallen prey to this.  As academically confident as I used to be, the opposite is almost the case these days.  I had never experienced test anxiety until just a few weeks ago and...wow...I feel it.  Nonetheless, chances are that I will get through.  It might be a bit bloody, but not impossible.

On a completely different note, these last eight weeks brought more than just a little grief from schoolwork.  We had a little bit of glee.  Most importantly, we FINALLY got little Patrick  potty trained.  A-men.  I can't even take credit for it.  Here is how it happened:

Scene: 8:30am on a Tuesday morning.

Patrick:  Mom, will you change my diaper?
Mom: Maybe it would be a good idea to not wear a diaper today.
Patrick: Ok.
Mom:  Ok?  So you think that you can use your toilet today?
Patrick: Ok.
Mom: Ok?  Really?  You'll do it?  If you do it, I will buy you Spiderman underwear.
Patrick: SPIDERMAN UNDERWEAR?????  I get Spiderman underwear???  Ok, I can do it.   

And that was it.  That's it.  He had not a single accident in two days, and has had less than ten since then, and that was probably just a little less than a month ago.  He did get the Spiderman underwear, as well as the Ironman, Wolverine, Hulk, Nemo, Cars, Buzz Lightyear, and Wall-E varieties, and he's as happy as can be.  Two weekends ago, we survived our first road trip, sans diaper and it was an absolute success.  That kid never fails to impress me. 

His mouth also has a way of impressing...er...surprising me, as he is quite adept at putting things together.  For example, the term, "Just re-LAX" has made it's way into our home whenever we insist that so anything with a bit of timeliness, as well as a few other choice terms that may deem my blog content "inappropriate."  He likes anatomy quite a bit.

I have some new pics to add, but it's getting late and I'm a sleepy sheepy.  I will do a photo summary of the start of our fall later on this week.