Aaaaand, done.

Ahhhh. My semester is finally over.  I finished the semester with a strong grade, a good clinical experience, and extreme thankfulness for my husband and daycare providers.  I am amazed by how much I learned in such a short time span. I'm also awed by how much I still have to learn.  I'm glad that we got into the hospital for clinical this semester, it really cemented what we learned.  There is so much about nursing practice that really needs to be hands on to make it stick.

My experience is also reinforcing for me that I don't want to do general medical/surgical nursing.  I had a good experience and enjoyed my clients and the floor, but can't see myself making a career from it.  Next semester we have rotations in the operating room, labor and delivery, and pediatrics. I'm beside myself with excitement about the L&D rotation!

In the meantime, I am taking deep cleansing breaths, wrestling my house back under control and enjoy my very long winter break.

Somehow, over the past few weeks we also managed to get a tree.

Put it up.

And decorate it. T was a really big help this year.  He got a kick out of hanging the ornaments.  We have an overabundance in the back, since that was T's favorite spot to hang.  They have also all migrated upward, juuust out of F's reach.  I didn't really hang anything breakable this year, but F has still done his best to destroy what's there.  He's been leaving the tree alone for the most part, but when he decides to play with it, he's very determined.

We had a floor picnic or two.

And got some super cute matching PJs that my mom made.  Seriously? Could they be any cuter?

We're looking forward to D & L coming next week.  It's going to be a busy 6 weeks.  I'll also be going to CA to visit my sister (for 5 days ... all by myself!!!!). Then M & G will be coming for a nice long visit.  After they leave, I'll have about 4 days before spring semester begins.  Bring it!