"Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, ticking, away.."

Just as the lyrics above state, time is ticking away. I truly can't believe how quickly another year has flown by. My family and I have been blessed with so many things this year and we are now looking forward to a Thanksgiving with all of my husband's side of the family...close and extended. We expect to fill our house with 20-30some odd family members and some friends. I haven't figured out the logistics of that many people in the house but one thing is for sure no matter how cold it may be outside it will be toasty warm with body heat inside. At first when my husband suggested hosting for that many people I panicked, I thought there is no way I can feed that many people nor do we have the room. I've solved the feeding part by asking everyone to bring a dish and a few beverages of their choice. The seating part we still have to work out but God willing the weather will be nice and we can enjoy the outdoors as well.

School has been a jumble of stress, joy, eventful experiences and so much more. My grades have been holding up well and our clinical experiences have been very interesting. We have been all over the place seeing all aspects of nursing from hospitals, clinics, schools and health departments. There are countless opportunities for an RN. Even though graduation isn't until May 2010, I've been offered positions at several clinical sights as well as 3 of the home health agencies that I've used for Nickie over the years. I have received several letters of recommendation from professors, nurses and my supervisor at my externship at the local hospital. I never knew I would love being a student nor the nursing field as much as I do.

Age old question...

Why is there so much HATE in our world? Today's shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC was apparently stopped just in time, they found explosives in the shooters car. You can read about it here. I pray for the family of Stephen T. Johns I hope they will be able to recover from this tragedy. I also pray that the haters of our world find peace not hate. We don't all have to agree on anything really except that life is a precious gift and no matter how much we disagree with anyone we have to learn to stop the HATE and learn to live our lives the best way we can.

Interracial couples

Today while reading the Yahoo headlines I read, Dating 101: Dealing with the RACE fact. Which lead me to a little investigating. I wondered just what the definition of interracial was. In doing so I found that we all have our own ideas just what that is.

The most basic definition I found was: A relationship between people of different races.
OK, that seems straight forward but what exactly are the races. Caucasians for example are whites right? Is an American Caucasian the same as a Greek Caucasian or an Italian Caucasian or Hispanic Caucasian?

I read several posts and articles on the WWW that left me as confused as I was when I began my search for an answer. Here I read a post from a couple that some might consider interracial however I would have just considered intercultural. I always wondered just what others thought of Bob and I. He is Caucasian and I'm Hispanic. Whenever we or should I say I got those stares I thought it was because people in our Southern state confused me for black or mixed due to my olive coloring and their ignorance. Now I'm not so sure that is the case. This article seems to lean to more acceptance of racial mixing with Hispanics and whites and Asians and whites over blacks and whites.

Truth is I guess it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. We've been married for over 25 years now and though we have both made many mistakes (like most couples in a long marriage) we are still going strong.

But surely you jest

Half of this year 2009 has come and nearly gone and I have not visited my blog in all that time. So much has happened and I've been so busy with life that I have forgotten to mention any of it here. A quick run down of all that has happened since my last visit.

1. Part time job at the Hospital
   
2. Start of the 2nd semester of RN school (whew)
   
3. 25th wedding anniversary
4. Bob had surgery
   
5. 44th birthday
6. Bob had surgery again
   
7. Bob's 50th birthday
8. Jackie turned 21
9. The end of 2nd semester! Hip Hip Hurray!
10. Celebration of the completion of 1st year RN program!
    
11. The start of summer
12. Foot surgery to remove a cyst that has been aggravated by being on my feet all day
13. Many other things I don't have the time to share or would rather keep to myself : )
    

I'm amazed at the swiftness that this year has taken. I know the older we get the faster the years go by. However, I'm not getting older I'm getting better! Like a fine wine! I have been so blessed with great family, friends, classmates and co-workers. There was a time I had regrets and now I see only successes. Everything in my past has brought me to this present. This glorious here and now that the Lord Almighty foresaw so long ago. For all the mistakes and the heartaches I am stronger, more insightful and grateful than I've ever been in my life. I know it is due to the road I've walked thus far and the education I gained along the way that has strengthened me to be the mother, wife, student, employee, daughter, etc that I have become. I still have a long way to go and the Lord it forever molding me. I look forward to the coming school year and my continuing education post graduation. I'm sure it will be sometime before I post again as I don't seem to have the time to do this, I think this is a good thing, but I will stop in from time to time.

Happy New Year!

2009! May we all have a healthy, happy and prosperous 2009!