Days Off

So due to my thumb, I'm pretty much in stasis right now. Today I accomplished one thing, which makes me feel better about all of the sleeping and doing nothing. I signed up for my next online class. It's MATH 141, or Precalculus I. Michael's idea to do the one thing a day...maybe two. There's a pile of magazines by our bed I could probably neaten up a little bit later today. Anyway, it helps with the useless feelings that accompany having a gimp right thumb.

I've been working through a book at night called God's Word to Women. Really good. Goes into the translation of the Bible concerning verses about women. I'm trying a chapter a day. Then maybe on top of that I can start doing more around the wedding. I'm just feeling like I'm in a lull right now.

One good thing. Michael got us a woobie! In case you're wondering what that is. It's a type of blanket that can also be used for a shelter or to lay down on, but it's a good insulator to keep you warm in all kinds of weather. This one's special because it's not quilted so it's an even coating of warmth, and there are no cold spots. It's very puffy, and hypoallergenic due to the down being synthetic vs. goose. It's waterproof and dries quickly, and it's by Kifaru! I think that's a pretty nifty name.

Here's a picture of it. The one that's around the guy is the woobie. The one he's sitting on is the old military kind that's good, but not as amazing as this one. It's like this weightless cloud of warmth, and keeps you at the perfect temperature, plus it's super silky. Anyway, Mike and I really like it, we're happy with the purchase, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's into camping and the great outdoors. It's light, can fit into a tiny space when you've got to put it in your gear, and keeps you perfectly warm. Wonderful investment.

The Thumb Incident

Well...and interesting thing happened a couple of days ago. I nearly lost my thumb. Interesting hunh? So how did this very fascinating thing happen? I shall tell you. I do a lot of various jobs for my platoon along with being their over worked medic. One of those jobs is drive a monstrous vehicle called an MRAP. The thing is a power house, and I feel like I've conquered the road whenever I drive that thing. Anyway, before we leave the wire I put this thing down, and it's rather clunky and awkwardly shaped and has some sharp edges to it. As I was putting it down, my hand slipped and it smashed down on my other hand's thumb. Fortunately, it attacked my right hand's thumb so it makes living all the more fun...I'm right handed by the way.

Anyway, the nail came completely off, it sliced through the bone completely and about three quarter's of the way through my entire thumb, and the rest of it was just wiggling there like it lost it's will to live. Thankfully that piece found its will again when the wonderful series of medical personnel took care of it and stitched it back together. Aside from the massive amount of pain, it's really not that bad. Cleaning it and changing the bandage can be somewhat shocking. It looks like something out of Frankenstein. BUT the good news is all the tissue is viable so no complete amputation necessary my partial amputation was enough to get its point across, and my joint isn't damaged, my nerves are healing which means sensation is coming back...sometimes painful, but it's still sensation. And in a short two weeks the stitches will be removed, and in about five to six the bone will be healed. Yay!

Did I mention that this occured the day BEFORE the last paper of my english class was due? Yes, it was. I finished it in time with a wonderful dose of Percocet to make me blissfully forget about the pain from typing. And that's what's setting the incredible tone of this entry right now. Anyway, I got an A in the class. Go me, and a bag of chips. Now I'm starving and waiting for my husband to get back from his mission. Unfortunately he's in his least favorite place probably in the entire world. Go figure. So he'll be home soon, which means CHOW, another 2 percocet, an antibiotic. Yes, I'm taking 4 a day which equates to 2,000 mg of cephalexin a day. Since you're wondering, I'm sure. Then shower and bed since I'll be in another world by that point. Apparently I'm slightly insane right now. I don't know why, but Michael has all of these crazy stories concerning me, what I do during my sleep, and how I'm hateful in the morning. I don't believe a single word of it. It's just not possible. Why would I shout out, "THE SLEEPING BAG IS PISSING ME OFF!" I swear I don't hold anything against the sleeping bag.

I would include pictures of my thumb since I took a bunch in my stupor. But I don't think they're for the light of heart. It's seen its better days, I'll just put it that way. Anyway, that's the latest.

School: A Continued Heartache

Well, after reading the beautiful post by my husband and smiling as a result I quickly realized that I was doing a wonderful job of procrastinating my school work. I have two papers left for this online english class I'm taking. TWO! And it gets harder and harder for me to finish it when there's so many other things to do. Like read magazines I've read three and four times already, or look at how messy our room is right now, or look at new crafty artists and whatnot on Etsy.

The wedding plans are kind of on hold right now. So far Michael's had a fitting for his suit, and it's probably going to be ready by the end of the month. At least, that would be the ideal situation. We're probably going to order my dress in the next month. Yes, I found it online. It's beautiful. I'll have an entry completely dedicated to wedding party bliss, but for now this entry is dedicated to school and procrastination.

Okay, so a little background. I've had a continued love hate relationship with school, and a constant fluctuation on what I want to do with my career. Do I want to be a doctor? An artist? A writer? A nurse? A psychologist? A social worker? A teacher/professor? The possiblities never cease to amaze me. The ones that have stayed pretty constant are something medical vs. something artistic/writer-ish.

Well, after lots of discussion with my life partner we came to an agreement of sorts. The best course of action is to focus on the short term goals with the question of long term goals working themselves out as I slowly accomplish the short term. So, something medical would mean I would need the necessary pre-requisites in classes. That means that I need to finish school. A very noble goal indeed. One I'm finally ready to take on. So I started with a nice, friendly English class back in April, and the class finishes June 23rd. It's seven assignments, and I've completed five with all A's so far. I have two assignments left, and they're the most involved, of course. I know the topics I want to do, and right now I'm delaying the research I'm doing for one of them with this blog.

So since I'm already in discussion of short term goals and this class, I'll start with the assignments for the class. The first assignment was a narrative essay. I did it on being a woman in the military in Iraq. I got a 100 on it. The second assingment was a sample Resources page. Another 100. Then the third assignment was a compare and contrast essay. The topic was already chosen and was comparing seeing a movie in theatres vs. at home. And guess what, I got a 100. Then around this point I'd finished all the reading and the corresponding journals we're supposed to write around what we're reading. 10 journal entries...and drum roll please, a 100! Then the latest assignment I've completed was the analysis essay where you analyse an ethical situation in a community you're involved with. So I did mine on patient autonomy in emergency medicine. Basically, the patient's right to choose whether they want the treatment or not. And I got a 99. Hah! I guess I was getting cocky or something, I don't know, but I'm not complaining. It's still an "A."

Now the last two. One is a persuasive or argumentative essay. They both kind of go hand in hand. I'm doing mine on freedom of speech. It's directed towards a library getting ready to ban a book. The other paper is a research paper, and I'm doing it on family. How families focused on raising their kids' imaginations and teaching them skills vs. video games and t.v. and not a lot of quality family time. At least, that's what I'm leaning towards. I haven't completely decided on that one. BUT two more papers...or rather one and a half. I'm almost done with the outline and necessary research for the first of the two. Right now I'm researching censorship, and I'm trying to find a third thing to feed into freedom of speech aside from laws and censorship. Something a little more powerful.

Now, I thought I'd end this entry with my short term goals. Goals that I'll be able to finish by March-ish of next year. Basically, finish by the end of the deployment.

-Read the entire Bible (I'm almost done with the NT, and my husband and I are in the third OT book Leviticus)
-Be completely debt free. (I'm well on my way to getting this one taken care of, which is a huge weight off of my shoulders.)
-Finish five online classes (Almost done with my first one. To celebrate finishing my last paper I'm going to sign up for my next class. Probably a math class.)
-Get a 300 on my APFT. (Army Physical Fitness Test. My husband and I are trying to PT as close to everyday as possible, but with the constant stream of missions I'm on I get really drained.)
-Leave here as close to E-4 promotable as possible (The online classes help, 300 PT helps, and then I need to start cracking down on correspondence courses, and all of that starts to add up when it comes to promotion points.)
-Go to at least one soldier board while I'm here. (This one's tricky because I've got so much on my plate right now.)

Then there's planning my wedding, doing what I can when it comes to our medic station and extra training we're doing at our local CSH (Combat Support Hospital). And then there's just the constant stream of missions. I've gone on over 100 easily. I'm also trying to keep in touch with family and everything and life's just a little crazy right now. I just need to get through the next nine months. So that's a little piece of my pie right now. So now I'm going to go back to my paper and wait for my husband to get home.

I like reading my wife's college homework essays and journals. I like getting her favorite foods and watching her light up when she sees them. I like coming home not expecting her and she is here. I like making up my own dances. I like planning in great detail all of our wilderness and metropolitan adventures, I like listening to how my wife's day went in the sequence that she remembers it ...