Goodbyes and School

We said goodbye to sweet Yelizaveta yesterday and left her at the airport with nine other Belarussian children and one interpreter to make their way across the world and back home.

Her parting was bittersweet. She was excited to be going home, but saying goodbye to Emma Grace was more dramatic than Terms of Endearment (which I've actually never seen, but I hear it's heartbreaking.) And oh my word they did some sobbing. These sweet friends that don't need to speak the same language sure know how to show each other love.

And thanks to my dad, we were able to do the only thing Liza asked to do last summer. Roller coasters! And she was one happy girl!

Liza, you will be missed.

And now summer is winding down.

This goofy boy starts pre-k next week. He will be in Track 4 in a fully special ed classroom setting. And my emotions are mixed about that. Mainly I'm excited for him, but occasionally a sad feeling creeps in and I try not to worry about him being in a big public elementary school that's huge and crowded and overwhelming and new. Yeah, we don't need to unpack that right now. God's got this, right? 

And speaking of back to school......I have also gone back to school.

I know. Scary, right?

And crazy?

And how the heck am I going to do all this?

I have no idea, but I figure I spend so much time in hospitals with Owen, I may as well get paid to be there, right? ;)

No for reals, after everything our family has been through and much prayer, I have decided to pursue an RN associate's degree through Wake Tech.

Why Wake Tech? Because it's cheap and close by and supposedly a great program.

Why not go for the 4 year BSN program? Because I'm scared about that time commitment and rumor has it, if you get your associate's degree, many of the area hospitals will then pay for you to continue on to get your BSN while working for them. I like that. Free schooling is never a bad thing.

Why nursing? Because I love blood and poop. Or because I know the system. I know you see doctors for like 2.5 seconds of your visits. I know the nurses are the ones in there hugging and loving and supporting and helping you get through what you need to get through. And I want to do that. And yes, I know it is more than that too. I know it's hard hard work, and patients are difficult, and there's a lot of cleaning involved, but I'm excited about it. So don't bust my bubble if you think this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard. Unless you really want to.

So that's about it. I've started one class and start two more in two weeks.

And balancing it all is going to be hilarious.

And yes, we have a scary looking mannequin in our classroom as well. And I've heard we will eventually be talking to him/her while we practice skills.

Oh this should be good. I've got a lot of pent up talking for someone who can't run away from me at will........

I think I shall name him Bob.