Tired

Well, my life right now consists of work and waiting to hear back from nursing schools. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Sick But Satisfied

Well, I've managed to develop a cold.

But! I did well on my TEAS test! I started my new job! And for good or ill, I also submitted the first of my nursing school applications. I've got all of my fingers and toes crossed, though of course after I'd clicked submit I double-checked and found a (small) mistake. Which I will probably angst over for the rest of my life if I don't get in.

TEAS Exam

Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies making air quotes.
The text over the photograph says "Take the TEAS test they said. It'll be easy they said." 

Well, today is the day I take the TEAS (Test of Essential Acadamic Skills) test, which I need to do well on to get into nursing school. Wish me luck!

Week of Studying

Well, this week I'll be studying, studying, and then studying some more. Why? Because I have an important multi-hour test to take on Saturday. It's an important component of my nursing school applications so I need to do well.

Meme saying "Yeah... So I'm gonna need you to go ahead and study for the TEAS every night this week. Yeah, that'd be great."

Book List 2018

Black and white picture of a baby in giant glasses reading a book.

Well, I'll admit that I didn't write down all of the books I read so far. I know that I read a bunch of gardening books but I don't remember the names or authors of any of those. That said - I can remember a fair amount of the fiction I read! I figure I'll just list all the books I can remember here and then keep track from now on. They're in alphabetical order by author.

Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky
Martha Beck - The Four Day Win
Christophe Chabouté - Tout Seul
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
Neil Gaiman - Smoke and Mirrors
Dave Goulson - A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm
Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring
Nalo Hopkinson - Falling in Love with Hominids
Nalo Hopkinson - The Midnight Robber
Nalo Hopkinson - The Salt Roads
Tove Jansson - The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
Matt Kindt - Dept. H.
Shari Lapena - The Couple Next Door
China Miéville - Railsea
Gabriela Mistral - Madwomen: The "Locas Mujeres" Poems of Gabriela Mistral
Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyonce
Zenaida Sengo - Air Plants: The Curious World of Tillandsias
William Sloane - The Rim of Morning: Two Tails of Cosmic Horror
Danez Smith - Don't Call Us Dead
Zadie Smith - Swing Time
Erik Axl Sund - Les Corps de Verre
Peter J. Tomasi - House of Penance
Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

Not too shabby.

Lovely Day

Today was a lovely spring day! All the trees are in bloom and I got to hang out at the park (and play paparazzi) while Waldo went on a date.

Tree with white blossoms.

Tree with pink blossoms.

Waldo and his girlfriend.

Right Side of the House!

Ok, as promised here is my next garden section - the right side of the house! This section is shady, covered with leaves, and overgrown with ivy. I fixed it up over the weekend but my phone was not working so it took me a while to get pictures. Anyway, I peeled back some of the leaf layer - not too much because I wanted to keep this more woodland-y. I hacked away a bunch of the ivy and tossed a bunch of dead branches to the woods in back of the fence. Then I planted some woodland perennials, cleaned up the paving stones, fixed up the area around the swing, and added a bird feeder. I even set up a nice spot for the rain barrel on the corner of the house.

Before

Stairs and top of the garden.

You can't see the paving stones because they are covered in ivy.

This swing area needs some help - and someone to haul away the fallen tree branches!

After

View from the stairs.

Birdhouse.

Step garden.

View standing next to the step garden looking towards the swing.

Flowers in the step garden.

Ferns growing in the rocks.

Swing area.

Rain barrel area with rocks and lily of the valley flowers.