NURSING SCHOOL, PART 6

No classes or work today, so I've been catching up on chores around the house. The past two months, I have learned there are certain things that simply do NOT happen when Mom goes back to school/work:

No one cleans the cat's litter box. Checked that chore off the list today. Wow. All I can say is: I am so sorry, Kitty!

No one tidies the refrigerator. I threw out several weeks' worth of bits-&-pieces of unidentifiable leftovers today. Now that I've taken the trash out, I'm thinking maybe I should have saved a few "specimens" to take to school tomorrow for Micro lab show-&-tell.

Sweeping. With only three people living here now, you'd think there would not be a lot of dirt, hair, dust bunnies, and nastioferous "drift" floating around at floor level. But you'd be wrong. Secretly, I was trying to hold out on this one...see if someone else would notice the filth and pick up a broom. But nasty floors really aren't that big a deal to anyone else in my family...just me. Today, I cracked. The floors still need a good mopping, but at least now they are no longer crunchy.

Planned menus and bought and put away groceries. Washed and folded three loads of laundry. Took out two bags of trash. Washed and put away a sink full of dishes.

Now, time to tackle homework, prep for tomorrow's labs, and study for Friday's tests. If I can stay awake and concentrate, that is.

As I was folding a load of laundry this afternoon, I got to thinking: "I need a wife!" You know, someone to do the laundry, clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, and cook a hot meal while I'm away at work and school, so I can focus on more important things when I'm at home on my "off" time.

That one silly thought woke an enormous sleeping dragon.

When I was a full-time stay-at-home mom, my work day began when my feet hit the floor in the morning, and it didn't end until long after last little one was snuggled in bed for the night. No "wife" to make sure I had clean underwear or to have a hot meal on the table for me at the end of every day. No time clock on the wall where I could check out after a long, difficult shift. It was exhausting work, but I LOVED my job.

Now that I'm "out," my work/school day begins well before the sun peeps over the eastern horizon, and it doesn't end until my engine putters completely out of steam and I crash into bed, long after the sun has set. Still no "wife" to sweep my floors or buy my groceries, and "a day off" translates into "try to cram a weeks' worth of my old job into my new schedule." This is an exhausting season of life, but you know what? I LOVE what I am doing.

So, I am thankful for time to catch up on chores around the house today, and I am praying I'll be able to stay awake enough and alert enough the rest of this day to get some serious studying done.

And, to all my sisters out there who go hard, day in and day out, with no weekends off, no paid vacations, and no wife -

You

Are

Amazing.

Now, time to make another pot of coffee and tackle Micro.

WHAT TO DO?

There are people in this world who, when they hurt you and you somehow find the courage to say "That hurt me," their response - "You're too sensitive," "You need to toughen up," "It was just a joke" - their response makes you feel guilty for being hurt, and although they were the one who threw the side punch or made the unkind comment, you end up believing you're the one who needs to apologize, for having been hurt at all.

And yet...

These same people, when you do resolve to not be so sensitive and you do "toughen up," they accuse you of being emotionally distant, so that, whether you express your emotions or you do not express your emotions, you are wrong.

Always wrong.

I understand that now...that there are such people in the world.

I understand now, but, as hard as I try, I cannot figure out what to do with that.

A SMALL THING

Today, my math teacher dedicated class time to a review session for an upcoming exam. As students filed into the classroom, I took my regular seat at the front row of tables and began unpacking my binder, calculator, etc.

"How was your weekend?" I asked the quiet young woman who sits to my right.

"Pretty good," she nodded. After she arranged her notes, paper, pencil, and calculator on the table in front of her, she stood and pulled a small purple box from her backpack. "Here," she smiled as she set something in front of me.

It was a Valentine card...you know, the little paper kind we used to trade in bulk way back in elementary school. Attached to the card, a small piece of candy.

"Wow!" I picked up the card. "Thank you!" Such a simple thing, and yet it significantly brightened my day this gray, rainy Monday.

Then, my young math neighbor stood and quietly distributed similar Valentines to every single person in the class. A whispered murmur of "Thank you!," "Cool!," "Thanks!" rippled through the room. Finally, she set a last simple Valentine on the teacher's lectern and took her seat.

And then, my teacher entered the room and we reviewed for Wednesday's test.

Fifty minutes later, chairs scraped, zippers zipped, and boots scuffed in the chaos of students leaving for another class. One young man paused at our front table before he headed out the door: "Thank you for the candy." My young friend simply smiled her quiet smile.

Dr. S glanced up from the lectern at the front corner of the room. He cocked his head to one side. "Hey..." My young neighbor turned her attention to him. "Hey..." - a broad smile lit up his face - "Thank you."

A single college professor and a roomful of anxious math students - each of us blessed by one very simple, quiet, unexpected gesture of kindness.

I learned so much more than math in class today.