Emma Comes, Emma Goes

So Emma got home from her European trip last Sunday morning and was home for all of 2 days before taking off for Utah to visit her friend Anne for a few days. She tried to come home on Friday afternoon but a Delta cancellation ate up all of the available seats to DFW so guess what!?

Another overnight at the airport!

It may seem tacky to those who can afford a hotel, but overnighting at the airport has its advantages. First and foremost it is cheap. In fact it is free. Second, it is relatively safe, since you are on the secure side. No one is going to approach you with a gun or an appeal for spare change or anything like that. And third, there are not many people about and it is fairly quiet. You can usually find an airplane blanket or two and at the larger airports, they sometimes pull out cots or mattresses. Steve got a fold out pad from UA at Minneapolis to sleep on and we have had cots at Chicago. And last, but not least, there is the advantage of being there to stand by for that 6 AM flight. No early morning rush to the airport. And those early flights are often good for standing by since revenue passengers have been known to sleep in.

So yes, Emma got on the 6 AM flight out of Salt Lake and was home for the rest of Saturday. Sarah and Loren came over and we took some family pictures, since we will not be together again until Christmas. AND it was Stephen's birthday, so we all went out to eat which was fun. Then today Emma was off again to Minnesota. She will work for 2 more weeks at Danish Camp and then drive her car to Idaho. We expect to see her one more time before school (BYUI) starts since she is going to Disney World with Sarah and Loren in September.

We are not hosting this year -

but we got to pick up Jullyano Braga da Silva from Brazil at DFW today. Our friends, the Romneys will be his host family and they got a good one! His English is great and he is handsome and charming. Here we are at the Airport.

About Steve

Stephen just finished his 5-week summer camp counselor experience at Concordia's Hometown USA. He had a great time and, schedule permitting, will probably go back next summer. Better still, he accumulated plenty of language tutoring hours to complete his TESOL minor. However he is still recuperating from his 24+ hour wait at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, standing by for a flight to Dallas. He checked in at about 2 PM on Sunday and didnt get out till around 4 PM on Monday. So he joined the ranks of family members who have recently overnighted at an airport. At one point yesterday there were more than 60 people on the standby list (he was #21) and no seats available. I was convinced he wasn't going to make it. So Emma, James, Melissa and I drove up to Ikea, shopped and had a meal. And missed his call saying he got on a flight. So he had to wait a while at DFW to be picked up. Next week he will go to Utah to visit his friend Spencer and tie up loose ends.

Gainfully Employed!

This morning I signed a contract with the Dallas Independent School District. So I am officially a school nurse. They have not yet assigned me to a specific school, but orientation starts next week on the 13th. And next summer, maybe I will apply to be a camp nurse at Concordia in MN and see why Emma and Steve love it up there!

Last Minute

I still haven't sent out my E-announcements and my Lesson Schedule to my anxiously awaiting fans in the Lakewood Ward. Who am I kidding... but it still needs to be done. Preferably tonight.

Emma... almost home

So last night, which was Friday night in Denmark which is 7 hours ahead of Texas, Emma and Elle missed the 1230 am train back to Odense and had to wait an hour and a half for the 200 am train. She said she finally got to bed at about 4 am and had to get up at 730am to get the KLM connection from Billind to Amsterdam to London (LHR). She stood by for the AA flight from Heathrow to Chicago and got on it, but it was late so she missed her connection at O'Hare and is spending the night at the airport. She sounded so tired when she called. She said she didn't sleep on the plane. So now she's probably sleeping on the floor at the airport. I've done that before. In fact I did it in May in Denver. And Emma has overnighted at O'Hare before too. The trials and blessings of non-revenue travel! It's wonderful to have those privileges. It will be good to see her in the morning.

August 3, 2007

Three years ago today, my dad, Rollin T. Young died. I miss him. He was a wonderful father and a wonderful companion to my mother and a wonder person.

Sixteen years ago today, my son, Joseph C. Arnquist was stillborn. I wish I had had the opportunity to know him. It was a shock to us, since I was a week past my due date and went to the hospital in labor, not knowing that his heart had already stopped beating.

I just wanted to remember them today.

The 99 Cents Store Will be the Death of Me

I can’t resist a bargain. Even at the expense of my health. Lately I have been buying Silk Chocolate Soy Milk. It’s only 99 cents a half gallon. It costs $3.99 at Whole Foods Market. Such a deal. The problem is that I drink it. I don’t think anyone else in my house does. It’s delicious. But after I do, I go into a sugar funk which feels bad and is another indication that I am probably an undiagnosed diabetic. Then there is the Bryers Ice Cream at 99 cents for 1.75 quarts. I should probably be buying low sugar, low fat Tofutti for $5 a pint, but my goodness, who can afford that??? And then there are the Pillsbury Simply Bake Turtle Supreme Bars with Chocolate Chips, Caramel Drizzle and Walnuts. For 99 cents. Hard to resist. Where did my self discipline go? HELP!!

I Love the 99 Cents Store

There are lots of things it is good for: Decent reading glasses for 99 cents. Tomatoes, zucchini, celery, a 5 pound bag of potatoes, a package of 2 or 3 red bell peppers, a bag with 4 lovely fresh peaches.. all for 99 cents each. Canned goods are as good a buy or better than anywhere else. They haven’t had brown rice for a while, but 99 cents for 2 pounds is good. It’s a great place to get greeting cards and gift bags – 50 cents each! And I have found good deals on things like health/beauty/cleaning supplies. Right now they have a VHS copy of Quidam – a Cirque de Soliel performance. I’d buy it if we didn’t already have it! And the best thing is that it’s only 2 ½ blocks from my house. I just need to set myself some limits on the too good to be true sweets.

Not Feeling Inspired

But feeling a need to catch up:

July 7th - 07/07/07 - turned out to be a lucky day for me! I took the NCLEX that day. I only got 75 questions before the system booted me out so I knew I did really good or really bad. If the computer thinks you have not yet 'proved' yourself, it can dish out up to 265 questions. Thank goodness I didn't have to sweat out that many! I found out 2 days later online that I passed!!! So I am now a licensed, registered nurse - an RN.

Without a job. I am still a wimp. Working in a hospital would be a good experience, BUT, I am nearly 60 years old. I'm not sure how my body would take the 12 hour shifts and possibility of working nights. So I have applied to be a school nurse with the DISD. I have had an interview and they are processing my background checks. Ho hum... They called me last week because they couldn't find Manset, Maine, a place where I lived in the 70's. It's so small that it wasn't even a blip on their radar! If they hire me, and they seemed positive, I will start orientation on August 13th. So I hope I find out soon.

Emma the World Traveler is in Denmark today. She got on the AA nonstop from DFW to London on Friday and arrived at Gatwick on Saturday morning. She stayed at 2 different hostels in London on Saturday and Sunday nights. Then she flew from Heathrow via Amsterdam to Billund on Monday morning. She was met in Billund by Laerke Buch, our YFU student from the 2004/5 school year, and will be staying in Odense with the Buch family until Saturday. I hope she can get on a plane out of London… the availability does not look especially good .

Stephen is in Frontenac, Minnesota at Hometown USA. He is a camp counselor, teaching foreign kiddos English. He’s been up there since July 2nd and comes home next week.

And I hope to go to NH again on Friday.

July 4th on July 1st

Yesterday the city of Dallas 4th of July celebration was held at Fair Park. Bill and I went. The thing that got us out of the house was that all of the Fair Park museums were free from 4-7PM. We have been to the Science Museum often enough, but have never been to the African-American History Museum or to the Women's Museum. We only made it to the Women's Museum but enjoyed it. It had an exhibit on Women in War and another on various milestones achieved by women and another on the changing face of feminism. We didn't get there until 530 so we really didn't have enough time. Of course, Bill had to spend some time admiring and inspecting the structure.

Anyhow, after that we walked around the fairgrounds. The lagoon now has swan boats - I didn't know that. And the Texas Discovery Gardens were nice. We saw kids on bikes and kids running through the fountains having a great time. It made me a little nostalgic for the time when my kids were little and we brought them to Fair Park to ride bikes. They would ride their bikes through the ground level fountains. Good times! The concert started at 830PM with the DSO in front of the Hall of State and people all up and down the Esplanade. I was really glad we went. The program was nearly the same as the Memorial Day program that we heard in May but they add the 1812 overture. Fireworks started at the end of 1812 and continued through Stars and Stripes Forever. Nothing like 3 Sousa marches to make one feel patriotic.

On the real 4th of July, we will probably go to the concert and fireworks at Las Colinas with James and Melissa. I won 2 tickets to the Dallas Wind Symphony concert at the Meyerson on the 4th at 1PM. That should be fun!

Diversions

When Rene left for Germany last Tuesday, his flight made an unscheduled landing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa due to weather and low fuel. He had about half an hour to make his international connection once they made it to Chicago, but he is a good runner - he made it! With a 40-something pound backpack! Stephen left for Minneapolis today. He was number 10 of 21 on the standby list, but he made it. His flight was diverted to Omaha, Nebraska due to a medical emergency. They landed in MSP two and a half hours late. As for me, the diversions that distract me from studying for the NCLEX are: reading blogs and facebook, surfing the internet, washing dishes, washing clothes, shopping at the 99 cent store, sudoku.... almost anything that is not related to nursing. Can you tell I am not excited about studying?? Tomorrow I will go to the library to study. Maybe that will work.

I'm a WIMP

Not only am I a wimp, I am a totally unprepared, scared, procrastinating and un-confident wimp. I was supposed to take the NCLEX today. After Rene left, I started studying in earnest and discovered how much I have forgotten already. So I rescheduled for Saturday, July 7th. I keep telling myself that I need to do at least 100 practice questions per day. I did today. I need to start looking for a job.

And so it ends...

SeWon Left for Korea on Monday and Rene left for Germany on Tuesday. I'll miss them. We have decided not to host exchange students next year. We were very lucky with Rene and SeWon. They are both great kids. I decided to host because of the severe attack of “empty nest syndrome” that I had the first year Emma was gone. Also because of Joseph, the child that died. He would have been 16 this summer. So in a way I have felt like we are supposed to have teenaged boys in the house. But I need to put my house in order before we do it again.

We still have a fairly active househild with James and Melissa here for the summer. Stephen is here too but will be spending the month of July up in Minnesota, working for Concordia. Emma, THE BAKER, is up there now, baking breads and cakes and cookies for all the lucky campers at Norwegian camp. She comes home for the last two weeks of July and will probably go back for the month of August. So people keep coming and going.

Some Photos

SeWon, Emma and Rene

Steve at BYU graduation

Colorado, Minnesota and New Hampshire

The week after Sarah's graduation, I made a long overdue visit to my friend Patricia in Pueblo, Colorado. I spent a pleasant 3 days visiting, seeing some beautiful countryside and meeting some of Pat's friends. I had a bit of a hard time getting home. Flying standby is always a challenge, but this time there was bad weather in Dallas and the midwest, causing 3/6 flights COS to DFW to cancel and 5/12 flights DEN to DFW to cancel. I ended up driving from Colorado Springs to Denver, sleeping at the airport, and flying out on the 6AM flight the next morning.

The next week I drove to Minnesota with Emma. We got a AAA Triptik and loaded up her car and took off. What a big, beautiful country we live in! I don't often take road trips because of my flight benefits, but it was fun to do. We drove up to Oklahoma and through Missouri to Illinois. We stopped at the Lincoln Museum in Springfield and in Decatur to see Emma's roomie, Stepheni. Then we drove to and through Wisconson and on to Minnesota. Emma's Arnquist ancestors settled some of those WI/MN areas. We stayed at a nice hotel near the MSP airport that we got a really good deal on through Priceline and ate at a great little vegetarian restaurant called Good Earth. Then last Friday Emma drove to Bemidji to begin orientation for her job as baker for Concordia's Norwegian camp and I flew home to Dallas.

New Hampshire is coming up this week. Rene and SeWon left for their YFU trip to New York City on Sunday June 3rd. They managed to get on a 'full' flight with an early check in time and D1 status. On Thursday the 7th we fly to Boston and drive up to NH for about a week. I'm looking forward to being in New England. Maybe I'll look for a job there...

Five new degrees!

Sarah is now “Master Doctor Sarah”. She is so cool. She worked on her medical degree and her masters degree concurrently and will begin a family practice residency at JPS County Hospital in Ft Worth in July. Her husband Loren also got a masters and Stephen graduated from BYU with a degree in Japanese. And I now have my second bachelors degree. I don’t know if I will go for a masters. If I do, it won’t be in nursing.

Wonder of Wonders

I graduated. I am now a GN and will take the NCLEX, the licenseing exam to become an RN on June 28th. I don't have a job yet because I have not applied. After this last semester, I'm not even sure I want to be a nurse. We shall see. Oh, and I did great on the HESI (94th percentile), so I hope that is an indicator of how well I will do on the NCLEX.

Spring Break

Last week was spring break for Rene and SeWon. Since I was in school, we didn't get to fly anywhere. They spent the first part of the week just hanging out at home or with friends. But Thursday - Saturday they got to go to Stake Youth Conference. It was a pioneer trek up in northern OK. I think they had around 100 kids participate... dressing in pioneer clothing, pulling handcarts, no electronics, backpacks or other modern conveniences. They had a great time!

This week is my spring break. I am spending it studying, both for classes and for the HESI. I did a couple of sections of the practice HESI yesterday and got 86% of the first part and 56% on the second part... So I have some work to do. I wanted to go visit Emma in Idaho, but last weekend would have been better and that didn't work for her. I thought I might go at the end of this week, but I'm glad now that I didn't. I really need to study and am getting a lot more done here than if I were traveling. So Emma, if you read this, I love you and will see you in a little over 2 weeks!

The worst/hardest semester

Everyone said Senior 1 would be hard - it wasn't for me. Everyone said Senior 2 would be a breeze. No such luck. I'm not even sure I even like nursing after this semester. My experiences with Baylor have been less than ideal. I would not want to work there. It seems the big push is for nursing schools to crank out hospital nurses, but I don't think I want to do that. I don't like the culture. I'm hoping now to first, make it to graduation and second, find a non-hospital job. Some of the nurses I have worked with as preceptors have said to stick it out because the “real” working world is very different from school. I’m not sure I believe that anymore. I should have stuck with technology.